encyclopedia

[ en-sahy-kluh-pee-dee-uh ]
See synonyms for encyclopedia on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a book, set of books, optical disc, mobile device, or online informational resource containing articles on various topics, usually in alphabetical arrangement, covering all branches of knowledge or, less commonly, all aspects of one subject.

  2. Encyclopedia, the French work edited by Diderot and D'Alembert, published in the 18th century, distinguished by its representation of the views of the Enlightenment.

Origin of encyclopedia

1
First recorded in 1525–35; from New Latin encyclopaedia, from Greek enkyklopaidía, a misreading of enkýklios paideía “circular (i.e., well-rounded) education”; see encyclical, pedo-1
  • Sometimes en·cy·clo·pae·di·a .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use encyclopedia in a sentence

  • Another important undertaking was the publication of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1911.

  • Some of his papers they pushed up over the bookcase, some they put behind the Encyclopaedia.

    A Little Dinner at Timmins's | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • He was an inaccurate encyclopaedia of everything that went on, but only Madge, who thought him amusing, ever cared to listen.

    The Missing Formula | Mildred A. Wirt, AKA Ann Wirt
  • The "Encyclopaedia Britannica" was a great boon, being always "the last word" in the settlement of a debated point.

    The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas Mawson
  • The experiments were continued, and all available information was gathered from cookery books and the Encyclopaedia.

    The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas Mawson

British Dictionary definitions for encyclopedia

encyclopedia

encyclopaedia

/ (ɛnˌsaɪkləʊˈpiːdɪə) /


noun
  1. a book, often in many volumes, containing articles on various topics, often arranged in alphabetical order, dealing either with the whole range of human knowledge or with one particular subject: a medical encyclopedia

Origin of encyclopedia

1
C16: from New Latin encyclopaedia, erroneously for Greek enkuklios paideia general education, from enkuklios general (see encyclical), + paideia education, from pais child

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012