• rhinotillexomania •
Pronunciation: rai-nê-tê-lek-sê-may-ni-ê • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, mass
Meaning: Obsessive nose-picking.
Notes: 
At first sight, I thought this word might be a joke someone made up, but there it is on WebMD among its finger-picking buddies. (Warning: I would rate the page PG-13.) It comes with all the family of -mania: -manic, -maniacal, etc.
In Play: This word is best left in the world of medicine: "Attention deficit disorder sometimes is accompanied by rhinotillexomania, obsessive nail biting, or thumb-sucking." You will never hear anyone say, "I have to keep my hands tied behind my back because I'm fighting my rhinotillexomania," but you might read something like that in a medical journal.
Word History: Today's Good Word is a recent creation of the medical world. The earliest mention I could find was a 1995 article in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, "Rhinotillexomania: psychiatric disorder or habit?" (February 56(2).56-9). It is made up of Greek rhino(s) "nose" + till(ein) "to pick, pull out" + ex(i) "habit" + mania "madness". Rhino- was borrowed by European languages as a medical form for "nose", as in rhinoceros "nose-horned (one)" from rhino- + ker(as) "horn" and rhinorrhea. How it arrived in Greek is a mystery. The origin of tillein is also hazy. It probably was created from ptilon "(soft) feather", since feathers are things we pick or pluck from birds. Tillein is also used for pulling out hair in desperation. If so, ptilon goes back to pet-/pot- "to flow, fly, fall", source also of Sanskrit patati "flies", Greek potomos "river", Latin penna "feather", Russian ptica "bird" and pero "feather", Welsh aderyn "bird", Cornish edhen "bird", German Feder "feather", and English feather. (We owe a double dip of gratitude to Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira, long-time editor of the GW series and contributor of astonishing Good Words like today's.)
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