The word "discohexactine" is a made-up word that consists of three components: "disco," "hexa," and "ctine." "Disco" refers to a type of dance music that originated in the 1970s. "Hexa" means six and "ctine" refers to a compound with six carbon atoms. The word is spelled phonetically as dɪskoʊhɛksæktin. The first two syllables are pronounced as "DIS-ko," while the third syllable is pronounced with a short "a" sound, "HEX-actin." The final syllable is pronounced as "tin."