Related Searches
on Ask.com
encyclopedia - 4 dictionary results
World Book Encyclopedia
World Book Encyclopedia 2004-08 eds On Sale + Free Shipping. Buy & Save
www.EncyclopediaCenter.com
World Book Encyclopedia 2004-08 eds On Sale + Free Shipping. Buy & Save
www.EncyclopediaCenter.com
en⋅cy⋅clo⋅pe⋅di⋅a
[en-sahy-kluh-pee-dee-uh] 
–noun
| 1. | a book or set of books containing articles on various topics, usually in alphabetical arrangement, covering all branches of knowledge or, less commonly, all aspects of one subject. |
| 2. | (initial capital letter ) the French work edited by Diderot and D'Alembert, published in the 18th century, distinguished by its representation of the views of the Enlightenment. |
Also, en⋅cy⋅clo⋅pae⋅di⋅a.
Origin:
1525–35; < NL encyclopaedia < Gk enkyklopaidía, a misreading of enkýklios paideía circular (i.e., well-rounded) education. See encyclical, pedi-2
1525–35; < NL encyclopaedia < Gk enkyklopaidía, a misreading of enkýklios paideía circular (i.e., well-rounded) education. See encyclical, pedi-2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To encyclopedia
| en·cy·clo·pe·di·a (ěn-sī'klə-pē'dē-ə) n. A comprehensive reference work containing articles on a wide range of subjects or on numerous aspects of a particular field, usually arranged alphabetically. [Medieval Latin encyclopaedia, general education course, from alteration of Greek enkuklios paideia, general education : enkuklios, circular, general; see encyclical + paideia, education (from pais, paid-, child; see pau-1 in Indo-European roots).] Word History: The word encyclopedia, which to us usually means a large set of books, descends from a phrase that involved coming to grips with the contents of such books. The Greek phrase is enkuklios paideia, made up of enkuklios, "cyclical, periodic, ordinary," and paideia, "education," and meaning "general education." Copyists of Latin manuscripts took this phrase to be a single Greek word, enkuklopaedia, with the same meaning, and this spurious Greek word became the New Latin word encyclopaedia, coming into English with the sense "general course of instruction," first recorded in 1531. In New Latin the word was chosen as the title of a reference work covering all knowledge. The first such use in English is recorded in 1644. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia
En*cy`clo*pe"di*a\, Encyclopaedia \En*cy`clo*p[ae]"di*a\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, for ? ?, instruction in the circle of arts and sciences: cf. F. encyclop['e]die. See Cyclopedia, and Encyclical.] [Formerly written encyclop[ae]dy and encyclopedy.] The circle of arts and sciences; a comprehensive summary of knowledge, or of a branch of knowledge; esp., a work in which the various branches of science or art are discussed separately, and usually in alphabetical order; a cyclopedia.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : encyclopedia
Spanish:
enciclopedia,
German:
die Enzyklopädie,
Japanese:
百科事典
encyclopedia
1531, "course of construction," thought to be a false reading by L. authors of Gk. enkyklios paideia taken as "general education," but lit. "training in a circle," the essentials of a liberal education, from enkyklios "circular," also "general" (from en- "in" + kyklos "circle") + paideia "education, child-rearing," from pais (gen. paidos) "child." Modern sense of "reference work arranged alphabetically" is from 1644, often applied specifically to the Fr. "Encylopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des Sciences, des Artes, et des Métiers" (1751-65).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
