Encyclopedia meaning of the word

The volumes of the 15th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica (and the volume for the year 2002) span two bookshelves in a library.

Title page of Lucubrationes, 1541 edition, one of the first books to use a variant of the word encyclopedia in the title

An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline.[1][2] Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by article name[3] or by thematic categories, or else are hyperlinked and searchable.[4] Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries.[3][5] Generally speaking, encyclopedia articles focus on factual information concerning the subject named in the article’s title;[5] this is unlike dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic information about words, such as their etymology, meaning, pronunciation, use, and grammatical forms.[5][6][7][8][9]

Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years and have evolved considerably during that time as regards language (written in a major international or a vernacular language), size (few or many volumes), intent (presentation of a global or a limited range of knowledge), cultural perspective (authoritative, ideological, didactic, utilitarian), authorship (qualifications, style), readership (education level, background, interests, capabilities), and the technologies available for their production and distribution (hand-written manuscripts, small or large print runs, Internet). As a valued source of reliable information compiled by experts, printed versions found a prominent place in libraries, schools and other educational institutions.

The appearance of digital and open-source versions in the 21st century, such as Wikipedia, has vastly expanded the accessibility, authorship, readership, and variety of encyclopedia entries.[10]

Etymology

Indeed, the purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe; to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race in the future years to come.

Diderot[11]

The word encyclopedia (encyclo|pedia) comes from the Koine Greek ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία,[12] transliterated enkyklios paideia, meaning ‘general education’ from enkyklios (ἐγκύκλιος), meaning ‘circular, recurrent, required regularly, general’[5][13] and paideia (παιδεία), meaning ‘education, rearing of a child’; together, the phrase literally translates as ‘complete instruction’ or ‘complete knowledge’.[14] However, the two separate words were reduced to a single word due to a scribal error[15] by copyists of a Latin manuscript edition of Quintillian in 1470.[16] The copyists took this phrase to be a single Greek word, enkyklopaedia, with the same meaning, and this spurious Greek word became the New Latin word encyclopaedia, which in turn came into English. Because of this compounded word, fifteenth-century readers and since have often, and incorrectly, thought that the Roman authors Quintillian and Pliny described an ancient genre.[17]

Characteristics

The modern encyclopedia was developed from the dictionary in the 18th century. Historically, both encyclopedias and dictionaries have been researched and written by well-educated, well-informed content experts, but they are significantly different in structure. A dictionary is a linguistic work which primarily focuses on alphabetical listing of words and their definitions. Synonymous words and those related by the subject matter are to be found scattered around the dictionary, giving no obvious place for in-depth treatment. Thus, a dictionary typically provides limited information, analysis or background for the word defined. While it may offer a definition, it may leave the reader lacking in understanding the meaning, significance or limitations of a term, and how the term relates to a broader field of knowledge.

To address those needs, an encyclopedia article is typically not limited to simple definitions, and is not limited to defining an individual word, but provides a more extensive meaning for a subject or discipline. In addition to defining and listing synonymous terms for the topic, the article is able to treat the topic’s more extensive meaning in more depth and convey the most relevant accumulated knowledge on that subject. An encyclopedia article also often includes many maps and illustrations, as well as bibliography and statistics.[5] An encyclopedia is, theoretically, not written in order to convince, although one of its goals is indeed to convince its reader of its own veracity.

Four major elements

There are four major elements that define an encyclopedia: its subject matter, its scope, its method of organization, and its method of production:

  1. Encyclopedias can be general, containing articles on topics in every field (the English-language Encyclopædia Britannica and German Brockhaus are well-known examples).[2] General encyclopedias may contain guides on how to do a variety of things, as well as embedded dictionaries and gazetteers.[citation needed] There are also encyclopedias that cover a wide variety of topics from a particular cultural, ethnic, or national perspective, such as the Great Soviet Encyclopedia or Encyclopaedia Judaica.
  2. Works of encyclopedic scope aim to convey the important accumulated knowledge for their subject domain, such as an encyclopedia of medicine, philosophy or law. Works vary in the breadth of material and the depth of discussion, depending on the target audience.
  3. Some systematic method of organization is essential to making an encyclopedia usable for reference. There have historically been two main methods of organizing printed encyclopedias: the alphabetical method (consisting of a number of separate articles, organized in alphabetical order) and organization by hierarchical categories.[4] The former method is today the more common, especially for general works. The fluidity of electronic media, however, allows new possibilities for multiple methods of organization of the same content. Further, electronic media offer new capabilities for search, indexing and cross reference. The epigraph from Horace on the title page of the 18th century Encyclopédie suggests the importance of the structure of an encyclopedia: «What grace may be added to commonplace matters by the power of order and connection.»
  4. As modern multimedia and the information age have evolved, new methods have emerged for the collection, verification, summation, and presentation of information of all kinds. Projects such as Everything2, Encarta, h2g2, and Wikipedia are examples of new forms of the encyclopedia as information retrieval becomes simpler. The method of production for an encyclopedia historically has been supported in both for-profit and non-profit contexts, such was the case of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia mentioned above which was entirely state sponsored, while the Britannica was supported as a for-profit institution.

Encyclopedic dictionaries

Some works entitled «dictionaries» are actually similar to encyclopedias, especially those concerned with a particular field (such as the Dictionary of the Middle Ages, the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, and Black’s Law Dictionary). The Macquarie Dictionary, Australia’s national dictionary, became an encyclopedic dictionary after its first edition in recognition of the use of proper nouns in common communication, and the words derived from such proper nouns.

Differences between encyclopedias and dictionaries

There are some broad differences between encyclopedias and dictionaries. Most noticeably, encyclopedia articles are longer, fuller and more thorough than entries in most general-purpose dictionaries.[3][18] There are differences in content as well. Generally speaking, dictionaries provide linguistic information about words themselves, while encyclopedias focus more on the things for which those words stand.[6][7][8][9] Thus, while dictionary entries are inextricably fixed to the word described, encyclopedia articles can be given a different entry name. As such, dictionary entries are not fully translatable into other languages, but encyclopedia articles can be.[6]

In practice, however, the distinction is not concrete, as there is no clear-cut difference between factual, «encyclopedic» information and linguistic information such as appears in dictionaries.[8][18][19] Thus encyclopedias may contain material that is also found in dictionaries, and vice versa.[19] In particular, dictionary entries often contain factual information about the thing named by the word.[18][19]

Pre-modern encyclopedias

Naturalis Historiæ, 1669 edition, title page

The earliest encyclopedic work to have survived to modern times is the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, a Roman statesman living in the 1st century AD.[5][20][21][22] He compiled a work of 37 chapters covering natural history, architecture, medicine, geography, geology, and all aspects of the world around him.[22] This work became very popular in Antiquity, was one of the first classical manuscripts to be printed in 1470, and has remained popular ever since as a source of information on the Roman world, and especially Roman art, Roman technology and Roman engineering.

Isidore of Seville author of Etymologiae (10th. century Ottonian manuscript)

The Spanish scholar Isidore of Seville was the first Christian writer to try to compile a summa of universal knowledge, the Etymologiae (c. 600–625), also known by classicists as the Origines (abbreviated Orig.). This encyclopedia—the first such Christian epitome—formed a huge compilation of 448 chapters in 20 books[23] based on hundreds of classical sources, including the Naturalis Historia. Of the Etymologiae in its time it was said quaecunque fere sciri debentur, «practically everything that it is necessary to know».[24][21] Among the areas covered were: grammar, rhetoric, mathematics, geometry, music, astronomy, medicine, law, the Catholic Church and heretical sects, pagan philosophers, languages, cities, animals and birds, the physical world, geography, public buildings, roads, metals, rocks, agriculture, ships, clothes, food, and tools.

Another Christian encyclopedia was the Institutiones divinarum et saecularium litterarum of Cassiodorus (543-560) dedicated to the Christian divinity and to the seven liberal arts.[21][5] The encyclopedia of Suda, a massive 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia, had 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often derived from medieval Christian compilers. The text was arranged alphabetically with some slight deviations from common vowel order and place in the Greek alphabet.[21]

From India, the Siribhoovalaya (Kannada: ಸಿರಿಭೂವಲಯ), dated between 800 A.D. to 15th century, is a work of kannada literature written by Kumudendu Muni, a Jain monk. It is unique because rather than employing alphabets, it is composed entirely in Kannada numerals. Many philosophies which existed in the Jain classics are eloquently and skillfully interpreted in the work.

The enormous encyclopedic work in China of the Four Great Books of Song, compiled by the 11th century during the early Song dynasty (960–1279), was a massive literary undertaking for the time. The last encyclopedia of the four, the Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau, amounted to 9.4 million Chinese characters in 1,000 written volumes.

There were many great encyclopedists throughout Chinese history, including the scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095) with his Dream Pool Essays of 1088; the statesman, inventor, and agronomist Wang Zhen (active 1290–1333) with his Nong Shu of 1313; and Song Yingxing (1587–1666) with his Tiangong Kaiwu. Song Yingxing was termed the «Diderot of China» by British historian Joseph Needham.[25]

Printed encyclopedias

Before the advent of the printing press, encyclopedic works were all hand copied and thus rarely available, beyond wealthy patrons or monastic men of learning: they were expensive, and usually written for those extending knowledge rather than those using it.
During the Renaissance, the creation of printing allowed a wider diffusion of encyclopedias and every scholar could have his or her own copy. The De expetendis et fugiendis rebus by Giorgio Valla was posthumously printed in 1501 by Aldo Manuzio in Venice. This work followed the traditional scheme of liberal arts. However, Valla added the translation of ancient Greek works on mathematics (firstly by Archimedes), newly discovered and translated. The Margarita Philosophica by Gregor Reisch, printed in 1503, was a complete encyclopedia explaining the seven liberal arts.

Financial, commercial, legal, and intellectual factors changed the size of encyclopedias. Middle classes had more time to read and encyclopedias helped them to learn more. Publishers wanted to increase their output so some countries like Germany started selling books missing alphabetical sections, to publish faster. Also, publishers could not afford all the resources by themselves, so multiple publishers would come together with their resources to create better encyclopedias. Later, rivalry grew, causing copyright to occur due to weak underdeveloped laws.
John Harris is often credited with introducing the now-familiar alphabetic format in 1704 with his English Lexicon Technicum: Or, A Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences: Explaining not only the Terms of Art, but the Arts Themselves – to give its full title. Organized alphabetically, its content does indeed contain explanation not merely of the terms used in the arts and sciences, but of the arts and sciences themselves. Sir Isaac Newton contributed his only published work on chemistry to the second volume of 1710.

Encyclopédie

Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (English: Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts),[26] better known as Encyclopédie, was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis Diderot and, until 1759, co-edited by Jean le Rond d’Alembert.[27]

The Encyclopédie is most famous for representing the thought of the Enlightenment. According to Denis Diderot in the article «Encyclopédie», the Encyclopédies aim was «to change the way people think» and for people (bourgeoisie) to be able to inform themselves and to know things.[28] He and the other contributors advocated for the secularization of learning away from the Jesuits.[29] Diderot wanted to incorporate all of the world’s knowledge into the Encyclopédie and hoped that the text could disseminate all this information to the public and future generations.[30] Thus, it is an example of democratization of knowledge.

It was also the first encyclopedia to include contributions from many named contributors, and it was the first general encyclopedia to describe the mechanical arts. In the first publication, seventeen folio volumes were accompanied by detailed engravings. Later volumes were published without the engravings, in order to better reach a wide audience within Europe.[31][32]

Encyclopædia Britannica

The Encyclopædia Britannica (Latin for «British Encyclopædia») is a general knowledge English-language encyclopædia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various times through the centuries. The encyclopaedia is maintained by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 contributors. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, which spans 32 volumes[33] and 32,640 pages, was the last printed edition. Since 2016, it has been published exclusively as an online encyclopaedia.

Printed for 244 years, the Britannica was the longest running in-print encyclopaedia in the English language. It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, as three volumes. The encyclopaedia grew in size: the second edition was 10 volumes,[34] and by its fourth edition (1801–1810) it had expanded to 20 volumes.[35] Its rising stature as a scholarly work helped recruit eminent contributors, and the 9th (1875–1889) and 11th editions (1911) are landmark encyclopaedias for scholarship and literary style. Starting with the 11th edition and following its acquisition by an American firm, the Britannica shortened and simplified articles to broaden its appeal to the North American market. In 1933, the Britannica became the first encyclopaedia to adopt «continuous revision», in which the encyclopaedia is continually reprinted, with every article updated on a schedule.[citation needed] In March 2012, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. announced it would no longer publish printed editions and would focus instead on the online version.[36]

The 15th edition has a three-part structure: a 12-volume Micropædia of short articles (generally fewer than 750 words), a 17-volume Macropædia of long articles (two to 310 pages), and a single Propædia volume to give a hierarchical outline of knowledge. The Micropædia was meant for quick fact-checking and as a guide to the Macropædia; readers are advised to study the Propædia outline to understand a subject’s context and to find more detailed articles. Over 70 years, the size of the Britannica has remained steady, with about 40 million words on half a million topics. Though published in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has for the most part maintained British English spelling.

Brockhaus Enzyklopädie

The Brockhaus Enzyklopädie (German for Brockhaus Encyclopedia) is a German-language encyclopedia which until 2009 was published by the F. A. Brockhaus printing house.

The first edition originated in the Conversations-Lexikon published by Löbel and Franke in Leipzig 1796–1808. Renamed Der Große Brockhaus in 1928 and Brockhaus Enzyklopädie from 1966, the current 21st thirty-volume edition contains about 300,000 entries on about 24,000 pages, with about 40,000 maps, graphics and tables. It is the largest German-language printed encyclopedia in the 21st century.

In February 2008, F. A. Brockhaus announced the changeover to an online encyclopedia and the discontinuation of the printed editions. The rights to the Brockhaus trademark were purchased by Arvato services, a subsidiary of the Bertelsmann media group. After more than 200 years, the distribution of the Brockhaus encyclopedia ceased completely in 2014.

Encyclopedias in the US

In the United States, the 1950s and 1960s saw the introduction of several large popular encyclopedias, often sold on installment plans. The best known of these were World Book and Funk and Wagnalls. As many as 90% were sold door to door.[20] Jack Lynch says in his book You Could Look It Up that encyclopedia salespeople were so common that they became the butt of jokes. He describes their sales pitch saying, «They were selling not books but a lifestyle, a future, a promise of social mobility.» A 1961 World Book ad said, «You are holding your family’s future in your hands right now,» while showing a feminine hand holding an order form.[37]

Digital encyclopedias

Physical media

By the late 20th century, encyclopedias were being published on CD-ROMs for use with personal computers. This was the usual way computer users accessed encyclopedic knowledge from the 1980s and 1990s. Later DVD discs replaced CD-ROMs and from mid-2000s internet encyclopedias became dominant and replaced disc-based software encyclopedias.[5]

CD-ROM encyclopedias were usually a macOS or Microsoft Windows (3.0, 3.1 or 95/98) application on a CD-ROM disc. The user would execute the encyclopedia’s software program to see a menu that allowed them to start browsing the encyclopedia’s articles, and most encyclopedias also supported a way to search the contents of the encyclopedia. The article text was usually hyperlinked and also included photographs, audio clips (for example in articles about historical speeches or musical instruments), and video clips. In the CD-ROM age the video clips had usually a low resolution, often 160×120 or 320×240 pixels. Such encyclopedias which made use of photos, audio and video were also called multimedia encyclopedias. However, because of the online encyclopedia, CD-ROM encyclopedias have been declared obsolete.[by whom?]

Microsoft’s Encarta, launched in 1993, was a landmark example as it had no printed equivalent. Articles were supplemented with video and audio files as well as numerous high-quality images. After sixteen years, Microsoft discontinued the Encarta line of products in 2009.[38] Other examples of CD-ROM encyclopedia are Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia and Britannica.

Digital encyclopedias enable «Encyclopedia Services» (such as Wikimedia Enterprise) to facilitate programatic access to the content.[39]

Online

Free encyclopedias

«Free encyclopedia» redirects here. For the website that uses the term as its motto, see Wikipedia.

The concept of a free encyclopedia began with the Interpedia proposal on Usenet in 1993, which outlined an Internet-based online encyclopedia to which anyone could submit content and that would be freely accessible. Early projects in this vein included Everything2 and Open Site. In 1999, Richard Stallman proposed the GNUPedia, an online encyclopedia which, similar to the GNU operating system, would be a «generic» resource. The concept was very similar to Interpedia, but more in line with Stallman’s GNU philosophy.

It was not until Nupedia and later Wikipedia that a stable free encyclopedia project was able to be established on the Internet.

The English Wikipedia, which was started in 2001, became the world’s largest encyclopedia in 2004 at the 300,000 article stage.[40] By late 2005, Wikipedia had produced over two million articles in more than 80 languages with content licensed under the copyleft GNU Free Documentation License. As of August 2009, Wikipedia had over 3 million articles in English and well over 10 million combined in over 250 languages. Wikipedia currently has 6,642,636 articles in English.

Since 2003, other free encyclopedias like the Chinese-language Baidu Baike and Hudong, as well as English language encyclopedias such as Citizendium and Knol have appeared, the latter of which has been discontinued.

See also

  • Bibliography of encyclopedias
  • Biographical dictionary
  • Encyclopedic knowledge
  • Encyclopedism
  • Fictitious entry
  • History of science and technology
  • Lexicography
  • Library science
  • Lists of encyclopedias
  • Thesaurus
  • Speculum literature

Notes

  1. ^ «Encyclopedia». Archived from the original on August 3, 2007. Glossary of Library Terms. Riverside City College, Digital Library/Learning Resource Center. Retrieved on: November 17, 2007.
  2. ^ a b «What are Reference Resources?». Eastern Illinois University. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Hartmann, R. R. K.; James, Gregory (1998). Dictionary of Lexicography. Routledge. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-415-14143-7. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  4. ^ a b «Encyclopedia». Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Bocco, Diana (August 30, 2022). «What is an Encyclopedia?». Language Humanities. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Béjoint, Henri (2000). Modern Lexicography Archived December 30, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 30–31. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-829951-6
  7. ^ a b «Encyclopaedia». Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010. An English lexicographer, H.W. Fowler, wrote in the preface to the first edition (1911) of The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English language that a dictionary is concerned with the uses of words and phrases and with giving information about the things for which they stand only so far as current use of the words depends upon knowledge of those things. The emphasis in an encyclopedia is much more on the nature of the things for which the words and phrases stand.
  8. ^ a b c Hartmann, R. R. K.; James, Gregory (1998). Dictionary of Lexicography. Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-415-14143-7. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2010. In contrast with linguistic information, encyclopedia material is more concerned with the description of objective realities than the words or phrases that refer to them. In practice, however, there is no hard and fast boundary between factual and lexical knowledge.
  9. ^ a b Cowie, Anthony Paul (2009). The Oxford History of English Lexicography, Volume I. Oxford University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-415-14143-7. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2010. An ‘encyclopedia’ (encyclopaedia) usually gives more information than a dictionary; it explains not only the words but also the things and concepts referred to by the words.
  10. ^ Hunter, Dan; Lobato, Ramon; Richardson, Megan; Thomas, Julian (2013). Amateur Media: Social, Cultural and Legal Perspectives. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-78265-4.
  11. ^ Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert Encyclopédie. Archived April 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine University of Michigan Library:Scholarly Publishing Office and DLXS. Retrieved on: November 17, 2007
  12. ^ Ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία Archived February 9, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, 1.10.1, at Perseus Project
  13. ^ ἐγκύκλιος Archived March 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, at Perseus Project
  14. ^ παιδεία Archived March 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, at Perseus Project
  15. ^ According to some accounts, such as the American Heritage Dictionary Archived August 19, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, copyists of Latin manuscripts took this phrase to be a single Greek word, ἐγκυκλοπαιδεία enkyklopaedia.
  16. ^ Franklin-Brown, Mary (2012). Reading the world: encyclopedic writing in the scholastic age. Chicago London: The University of Chicago Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780226260709.
  17. ^ König, Jason (2013). Encyclopaedism from antiquity to the Renaissance. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-107-03823-3.
  18. ^ a b c Hartmann, R. R. K.; James, Gregory (1998). Dictionary of Lexicography. Routledge. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-0-415-14143-7. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2010. Usually these two aspects overlap – encyclopedic information being difficult to distinguish from linguistic information – and dictionaries attempt to capture both in the explanation of a meaning 
  19. ^ a b c Béjoint, Henri (2000). Modern Lexicography. Oxford University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-19-829951-6. The two types, as we have seen, are not easily differentiated; encyclopedias contain information that is also to be found in dictionaries, and vice versa.
  20. ^ a b Grossman, Ron (December 7, 2017). «Long before Google, there was the encyclopedia». Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  21. ^ a b c d «History of Encyclopaedias». Britannica. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  22. ^ a b c Nobel, Justin (December 9, 2015). «Encyclopedias Are Time Capsules». The Atlantic. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  23. ^ MacFarlane 1980:4; MacFarlane translates Etymologiae viii.
  24. ^ Braulio, Elogium of Isidore appended to Isidore’s De viris illustribus, heavily indebted itself to Jerome.
  25. ^ Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 102.
  26. ^ Ian Buchanan, A Dictionary of Critical Theory, Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 151.
  27. ^ «Encyclopédie | French reference work». Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  28. ^ Denis Diderot as quoted in Hunt, p. 611
  29. ^ University of the State of New York (1893). Annual Report of the Regents, Volume 106. p. 266.
  30. ^ Denis Diderot as quoted in Kramnick, p. 17.
  31. ^ Lyons, M. (2013). Books: a living history. London: Thames & Hudson.
  32. ^ Robert Audi, Diderot, Denis» entry in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, (Cambridge University Press, 2015)
  33. ^ Bosman, Julie (March 13, 2012). «After 244 Years, Encyclopædia Britannica Stops the Presses». The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
  34. ^ «History of Encyclopædia Britannica and Britannica Online». Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on October 20, 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  35. ^ «History of Encyclopædia Britannica and Britannica.com». Britannica.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2001. Retrieved May 31, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  36. ^ Kearney, Christine (March 14, 2012). «Encyclopaedia Britannica: After 244 years in print, only digital copies sold». The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  37. ^ Onion, Rebecca (June 3, 2016). «How Two Artists Turn Old Encyclopedias Into Beautiful, Melancholy Art». Slate. Archived from the original on September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  38. ^ Important Notice: MSN Encarta to be Discontinued. MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009.
  39. ^ «Encyclopedia Service Are About To Become A Huge Market». www.stillwatercurrent.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  40. ^ «Wikipedia Passes 300,000 Articles making it the worlds largest encyclopedia» Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Linux Reviews, 2004 Julich y 7.

References

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  • Béjoint, Henri (2000). Modern Lexicography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-829951-6.
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  • Cowie, Anthony Paul (2009). The Oxford History of English Lexicography, Volume I. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-415-14143-7. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  • Darnton, Robert (1979). The business of enlightenment: a publishing history of the Encyclopédie, 1775–1800. Cambridge: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-08785-9.
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  • Needham, Joseph (1986). «Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic». Science and Civilization in China. Vol. 5 – Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3. OCLC 59245877.
  • Rosenzweig, Roy (June 2006). «Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past». Journal of American History. 93 (1): 117–46. doi:10.2307/4486062. ISSN 1945-2314. JSTOR 4486062. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010.
  • Ioannides, Marinos (2006). The e-volution of information communication technology in cultural heritage: where hi-tech touches the past: risks and challenges for the 21st century. Budapest: Archaeolingua. ISBN 963-8046-73-2. OCLC 218599120.
  • Walsh, S. Padraig (1968). Anglo-American general encyclopedias: a historical bibliography, 1703–1967. New York: Bowker. p. 270. OCLC 577541.
  • Yeo, Richard R. (2001). Encyclopaedic visions: scientific dictionaries and enlightenment culture. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-65191-2. OCLC 45828872. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2014.

External links

  • Encyclopaedia and Hypertext
  • Internet Accuracy Project – Biographical errors in encyclopedias and almanacs
  • Encyclopedia – Diderot’s article on the Encyclopedia from the original Encyclopédie.
  • De expetendis et fugiendis rebus – First Renaissance encyclopedia
  • Errors and inconsistencies in several printed reference books and encyclopedias Archived July 18, 2001, at the Wayback Machine
  • Digital encyclopedias put the world at your fingertips – CNET article
  • Encyclopedias online University of Wisconsin – Stout listing by category
  • Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, 1728, with the 1753 supplement
  • Encyclopædia Americana, 1851, Francis Lieber ed. (Boston: Mussey & Co.) at the University of Michigan Making of America site
  • Encyclopædia Britannica, articles and illustrations from 9th ed., 1875–89, and 10th ed., 1902–03.
  • Texts on Wikisource:
    • «Cyclopædia». Collier’s New Encyclopedia. 1921.
    • «Encyclopædia». Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
    • «Encyclopædia». The New Student’s Reference Work. 1914.
    • «Encyclopaedia». Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
    • «Encyclopædia». The Nuttall Encyclopædia. 1907.
    • «Encyclopædia». New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
    • «Cyclopædia». The American Cyclopædia. 1879.

Last Update: Jan 03, 2023

This is a question our experts keep getting from time to time. Now, we have got the complete detailed explanation and answer for everyone, who is interested!


Asked by: Brent Hamill

Score: 4.8/5
(11 votes)

An encyclopedia, encyclopædia, or encyclopaedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either from all branches or from a particular field or discipline.

What encyclopedia means?

encyclopaedia, also spelled encyclopedia, reference work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or that treats a particular branch of knowledge in a comprehensive manner.

What is the literal meaning of encyclopedia?

The word encyclopedia (encyclo|pedia) comes from the Koine Greek ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία, transliterated enkyklios paideia, meaning ‘general education’ from enkyklios (ἐγκύκλιος), meaning ‘circular, recurrent, required regularly, general’ and paideia (παιδεία), meaning ‘education, rearing of a child’; together, the phrase …

What is an example of an encyclopedia?

The definition of an encyclopedia is defined as a book or an electronic database with general knowledge on a range of topics. The Encyclopedia Britannica is an example of an encyclopedia. A similar work giving information in a particular field of knowledge.

What is another word for encyclopedia?

encyclopedia

  • catalog.
  • (or catalogue),
  • cyclopedia.
  • (also cyclopaedia),
  • dictionary.

15 related questions found

What is a encyclopedia used for?

Encyclopedias. Encyclopedias attempt to summarise knowledge in relatively short articles. As well as providing basic overviews of topics and answers to simple facts, encyclopedias perform the function of providing context, in other words, identifying where the topic fits in the overall scheme of knowledge.

What are the types of encyclopedia?

There are two types of encyclopedias — general and subject.

  • General encyclopedias provide overviews on a wide variety of topics.
  • Subject encyclopedias contain entries focusing on one field of study.

Is Wikipedia an encyclopedia?

general and specialized encyclopedias, almanacs, and gazetteers. … Wikipedia is not a dumping ground for random information.

Who created the encyclopedia?

The Encyclopédie, Ou Dictionnaire Raisonné Des Sciences, Des Arts Et Des Métiers, often referred to simply as Encyclopédie or Diderot’s Encyclopedia, is a twenty-eight volume reference book published between 1751 and 1772 by André Le Breton and edited by translator and philosopher Denis Diderot.

What is the difference between Wikipedia and encyclopedia?

Wikipedia is a sea of information that is being contributed by readers present in all parts of the world, and the content on the site is growing by the minute. Encyclopedias are literary works that are definitive and authoritative, which cannot be said about Wikipedia.

What is the difference between dictionary and encyclopedia?

Encyclopedia and Dictionary are two words that are often confused when it comes to their usage and meanings. Encyclopedia is an information bank. On the other hand, a dictionary is a lexicon that contains meanings and possibly, usages of words. This is the main difference between Encyclopedia and dictionary.

What is the meaning of encyclopedia in Tagalog?

Translation for word Encyclopedia in Tagalog is : ensiklopedya.

What is the meaning of encyclopedia knowledge?

To have encyclopedic knowledge is to have «vast and complete» knowledge about a large number of diverse subjects. A person having such knowledge is called a human encyclopedia or a walking encyclopedia.

What is the sentence of encyclopedia?

2. I looked the Civil War up in my encyclopedia. 3. The new encyclopedia runs to several thousand pages.

What was the first encyclopedia?

The earliest encyclopedic work to have survived to modern times is the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, a Roman statesman living in the 1st century AD. He compiled a work of 37 chapters covering natural history, architecture, medicine, geography, geology, and all aspects of the world around him.

What does Pedia mean in Wikipedia?

an abbreviation of encyclopedia. an abbreviation of pediatrics. Pedia gens, an ancient Roman family. A nickname for Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

What is French encyclopedia?

The Encyclopédie was a literary and philosophical enterprise with profound political, social, and intellectual repercussions in France just prior to the Revolution. Its contributors were called Encyclopédistes.

Does an encyclopedia have an author?

Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary (edition if given and is not first edition). … If a dictionary or encyclopedia entry has no author, the in-text citation should include the title of the entry. The title of the entry should be in quotation marks, with each word starting with a capital letter.

Why was the encyclopedia banned?

Louis XV and Pope Clement XIII both banned the thing, though Louis kept a copy, and apparently actually did read it. Because of political and religious pressure in France, Diderot and his compatriots had to smuggle pages out of the country in order to publish them.

What do you call each book of encyclopedia?

Some are called «encyclopedic dictionaries». All encyclopedias were printed, until the late 20th century when some were on CDs and the Internet. 21st century encyclopedias are mostly online by Internet.

Is a free encyclopedia?

A free encyclopedia, like any other form of free knowledge, can be freely read, without getting permission from anyone. … Free knowledge can be freely shared with others. Free knowledge can be adapted to your own needs.

Is an encyclopedia a journal?

Encyclopedia is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal recording qualified entries of which contents should be reliable, objective and established knowledge, and it is published quarterly online by MDPI.

What is subject encyclopedia?

A single- or multi-volume encyclopedia which is devoted to a specific subject or field of study. A subject encyclopedia is usually edited by a respected scholar in the subject field. … A subject encyclopedia often makes a good tool for students and general readers who need to get an overview of a specialized topic.

What are the 4 types of Encyclopaedia?

Answer: Encyclopaedias can be approximatelydivided into four types. (1) Dictionaries(2) Comprehensive Encyclopaedia(Vishwakosh) (3) Encyclopaedic(Koshsadrush) literature (4) Indexes. Words are arranged mostly in an alphabetical order.

NOTE: The title encyclopedia was verbally given to me by my close friends and my close relatives since my close friends & close relatives admire/recognise my knowledge. ❋ Unknown (2010)

NOTE: The title encyclopedia was verbally given to me by my close friends and my close relatives since my close friends ❋ Unknown (2010)

The prime mover and longtime editor of the encyclopedia is a soft-spoken Anglican Charismatic named David B. Barrett. ❋ Unknown (2002)

The smallest lizard they show in the encyclopedia is about six inches long, and it says lizards are reptiles and have scales and claws and should not be confused with salamanders, which are amphibians and have thin moist skin and no claws. ❋ Unknown (1963)

The influential online encyclopedia is written and edited by anyone with an Internet connection, and contributors are supposed to stick to a fair recitation of the facts. ❋ Unknown (2010)

But online encyclopedia is only one use of a wiki. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Remember, every entry on Wiki and every encyclopedia is “biased information.” ❋ Unknown (2008)

When the encyclopedia is complete in 2009, it will include: ❋ Unknown (2008)

Still, I would be unwilling to suggest that yet another broad coverage encyclopedia is necessary. ❋ Unknown (2007)

However, these librarians go further because they have some personal standards about what an encyclopedia is and what it “is not”. ❋ Unknown (2006)

For them the idea that any crackpot idea can appear as unquestionable truth in an encyclopedia is repugnant. ❋ Unknown (2006)

It also is written in encyclopedia style, very brief articles about key concepts. ❋ Unknown (2006)

The medical encyclopedia is the most used book in our house. ❋ Sharon Bakar (2005)

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is a one stop dictionary, encyclopedia and linking ground for just about anything you want to know. ❋ Unknown (2005)

Wikipedia, the online volunteer-created encyclopedia, is up to 200,000 articles. ❋ Liz Donovan (2004)

Steven St. John for The New York Times Kevin Feige, head of Marvel Studios, is known as an «encyclopedia» of superheroes and has had multiple hit movies. ❋ By BROOKS BARNES (2011)

[I saw] that [tool], [Mike] with an encyclopedia. ❋ The ErectileProjectile (2006)

Encyclopedias are [detailed], but not as [thorough] as [a book] on a certain topic. ❋ Diggity Monkeez (2004)

[Cassie] — Jordan what did you just say?
Jordan -In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the [equator]!
Cassie — Wow, I didn’t know you knew that — You’re such an [encyclopedia]!
Jordan — I know, it’s because I’m drunk!! ❋ Lids94 (2012)

For a great [example] of Urban Encyclopedia, [refer] to [Operation Iraqi Freedom]. ❋ Fduck (2004)

Encyclopedia Dramatica proves how [terrible] [the human race] is. ❋ TheNerdyResponder (2014)

The average Encyclopedia Dramatica article:<[Insert name] of random person here> likes sucking dicks and [eating shit] [for breakfast]. ❋ NukeMap111 (2013)

Encyclopedia Dramatica. ❋ Enterweb (2006)

Encyclopedia Dramatica [dead]? [And nothing of value was lost]… ❋ Hardblow (2011)

On the surface, [Encyclopedia Dramatica] looks like a nice way to find meme origins, but click on any other link, and you risk any innocence you might have — you may soon become unable to [regain] your humanity or [sanity] again. ❋ Someman7 (2010)

Encyclopedia Dramatica:Donations [nao]?
Everyone else: NO!
Insert topic here is a autistic, [retarded faggot] who thinks he ownz [teh internetz]. You can help by raeping him up the ass. ❋ HalcyHatesTrollsDespiteBeing1 (2011)

English[edit]

The National Scientific Publishers encyclopedia (Polish)

Alternative forms[edit]

  • encyclopaedia (Britain)
  • encyclopædia (archaic)

Etymology[edit]

From New Latin encyclopaedia (general education), from Renaissance Ancient Greek ἐγκυκλοπαιδεία (enkuklopaideía, education in the circle of arts and sciences), a mistaken univerbated form of Koine Greek ἐγκύκλιος παιδείᾱ (enkúklios paideíā, education in the circle of arts and sciences), from ἐγκύκλιος (enkúklios, circular) + παιδείᾱ (paideíā, child-rearing, education).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Canada) IPA(key): /ənˌsəɪ.kləˈpi.di.ə/
  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ɪnˌsaɪ.kləˈpi(ː).di.ə/
  • Rhymes: -iːdiə
  • Hyphenation: en‧cy‧clo‧pe‧di‧a

Noun[edit]

encyclopedia (plural encyclopedias or encyclopediae or encyclopediæ)

  1. A comprehensive reference work (often spanning several printed volumes) with articles (usually arranged in alphabetical order, or sometimes arranged by category) on a range of subjects, sometimes general, sometimes limited to a particular field.

    I only use the library for the encyclopedia, as we’ve got most other books here.

    His life’s work as a four-volume encyclopedia of aviation topics.

  2. (dated) The circle of arts and sciences; a comprehensive summary of knowledge, or of a branch of knowledge.

Usage notes[edit]

The spelling encyclopedia is standard in American English, preferred in Canadian English, accepted in Australian and International English, and also very common in British English. It is more common than encyclopaedia, for example, in UK newspapers on Google News in 2009 by a 7:3 margin.

Derived terms[edit]

  • encyclopedic
  • encyclopedic dictionary
  • encyclopedic fiction
  • encyclopedical
  • encyclopedist
  • -pedia
  • walking encyclopedia

[edit]

  • paideia
  • Paidia
  • -pedia
  • pedo-

Translations[edit]

comprehensive reference with articles on a range of topics

  • Acehnese: ènsiklopèdia
  • Afrikaans: ensiklopedie (af)
  • Albanian: enciklopedi (sq) f
  • Alemannic German: Enzyklopädie
  • Amharic: መዝገበ ዕውቀት (mäzgäbä ʿəwḳät)
  • Arabic: مَوْسُوعَة (ar) f (mawsūʕa), دَائِرَة مَعَارِف(dāʔira(t) maʕārif)
    Moroccan Arabic: موسوعة(mawsūʿa)
  • Armenian: հանրագիտարան (hy) (hanragitaran)
  • Asturian: enciclopedia f
  • Azerbaijani: ensiklopediya (az), biliklik (South Azerbaijani)
  • Bakhtiari: دونسمندنامه(dunismandnāma)
  • Baluchi: زانتنامہ(zāntnāma), زانتگرد(zántgird)
  • Basque: entziklopedia (eu)
  • Belarusian: энцыклапе́дыя f (encyklapjédyja)
  • Bengali: বিশ্বকোষ (bn) (biśśokōś) এনসাইক্লোপিডিয়া (enośaiklōpiḍiẏoa)
  • Brahui: zántgird
  • Breton: holloueziadur
  • Bulgarian: енциклопе́дия f (enciklopédija)
  • Burmese: စွယ်စုံကျမ်း (my) (cwaicumkyam:)
  • Catalan: enciclopèdia (ca)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 百科全書百科全书 (zh) (bǎikē quánshū), 百科事典 (zh) (bǎikēshìdiǎn)
  • Chuvash: энциклопеди (entsiklop̬edi)
  • Crimean Tatar: entsiklopediya
  • Czech: encyklopedie (cs) f
  • Danish: encyklopædi (da), leksikon (da) n
  • Dutch: encyclopedie (nl) m
  • Erzya: содамкундо (sodamkundo)
  • Esperanto: enciklopedio (eo)
  • Estonian: entsüklopeedia (et)
  • Faroese: alfrøðibók f
  • Finnish: tietosanakirja (fi), ensyklopedia (fi)
  • French: encyclopédie (fr) f
  • Galician: enciclopedia (gl) f
  • Georgian: ენციკლოპედია (enciḳloṗedia)
  • German: Enzyklopädie (de) f, Lexikon (de) n, Konversationslexikon (de) n
  • Gilaki: دانشنامه‌(dånišnåmä)
  • Greek: εγκυκλοπαίδεια (el) f (egkyklopaídeia)
    Ancient: πανδέκτης m (pandéktēs)
  • Gurani: زانستنامە(zānistnāma)
  • Haitian Creole: ansiklopedi
  • Hebrew: אֶנְצִיקְלוֹפֶּדְיָה (he) f (entsiklopédya)
  • Hindi: ज्ञानकोष m (gyānkoṣ), विश्वकोश (hi) m (viśvakoś), विश्वकोष (hi) m (viśvakoṣ), साइक्लोपीडिया (hi) f (sāiklopīḍiyā), इनसाइक्लोपीडिया f (insāiklopīḍiyā)
  • Hungarian: enciklopédia (hu), lexikon (hu)
  • Icelandic: alfræðibók (is) f, alfræðiorðabók (is) f, alfræðirit (is) n
  • Ido: enciklopedio (io)
  • Indonesian: ensiklopedia (id)
  • Interlingua: encyclopedia (ia)
  • Irish: ciclipéid f
  • Italian: enciclopedia (it) f
  • Japanese: 百科事典 (ja) (ひゃっかじてん, hyakkajiten), 百科全書 (ja) (ひゃっかぜんしょ, hyakkazensho)
  • Kannada: ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ (viśvakōśa)
  • Karachay-Balkar: энциклопедия (entsiklopediya)
  • Kazakh: энциклопедия (énsiklopediä)
  • Khmer: វិជ្ជាសមោធាន (vɨccie saʔmaotʰien), សៀវភៅប្រជុំវិជ្ជា (siǝv pʰɨv prɑcum vɨccie)
  • Korean: 백과사전(百科事典) (ko) (baekgwasajeon), 백과전서(百科全書) (ko) (baekgwajeonseo)
  • Kurdish:
    Central Kurdish: زانستنامە(zanistname)
    Laki: زانستنۆمە(zanistnome)
    Northern Kurdish: zanistname (ku)
    Southern Kurdish: زانستنامە(zanistname)
  • Kyrgyz: энциклопедия (ky) (entsiklopediya)
  • Lao: ສາລານຸກົມ (lo) (sā lā nu kom)
  • Latin: encyclopaedia f, pandectēs m
  • Latvian: enciklopēdija f
  • Limburgish: encyklopedie
  • Lithuanian: enciklopedija (lt) f
  • Livvi: tiedosanakniigu
  • Low German: nokieksel
  • Luxembourgish: Enzyklopedie f
  • Macedonian: енциклопе́дија f (enciklopédija)
  • Malay: ensiklopedia (ms), jagat katan
  • Malayalam: സർവവിജ്ഞാനകോശം (saṟvavijñānakōśaṃ), വിജ്ഞാനകോശം (ml) (vijñānakōśaṃ)
  • Maori: mātāpunenga
  • Mazanderani: دانشنومه(dānišnuma)
  • Mongolian: нэвтэрхий толь (nevterxii tolʹ)
  • Nahuatl: centlamatilizamoxtli (nah)
  • Navajo: ínsadoobíídiiya
  • Northern Luri: دونسمنامٱ(dunismnāma)
  • Norwegian:
    Bokmål: encyklopedi (no) m
    Nynorsk: encyklopedi m
  • Old Church Slavonic:
    Cyrillic: єнкѷклопєдїꙗ f (enkü̏klopedija)
  • Ossetian: энциклопеди (ènciklopedi)
  • Pashto: پوهنغونډ (ps) f (pohanγónḍ)
  • Persian: دانشنامه (fa) (dânešnâme), دایرةالمعارف (fa) (dâyerat-ol-ma’âref), دائرةالمعارف(dâ’erat-ol-ma’âref), آنسیکلوپدی (fa) (ânsiklopedi)
  • Polish: encyklopedia (pl) f
  • Portuguese: enciclopédia (pt) f
  • Romanian: enciclopedie (ro) f
  • Russian: энциклопе́дия (ru) f (enciklopédija)
  • Rusyn: енціклопе́дія f (enciklopédija)
  • Sanskrit: विश्वकोश (sa) (viśvakośa)
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: енциклопе́дија f
    Roman: enciklopédija f
  • Slovak: encyklopédia (sk) f
  • Slovene: enciklopedija (sl) f
  • Sorbian:
    Lower Sorbian: encyklopedija f
    Upper Sorbian: encyklopedija f
  • Spanish: enciclopedia (es) f
  • Swahili: kamusi elezo, ensaiklopidia
  • Swedish: encyklopedi (sv) c, konversationslexikon (sv) n, uppslagsverk (sv) n
  • Tagalog: santalaalaman, ensiklopedya (tl)
  • Tajik: донишнома (tg) (donišnoma), доиратулмаориф (doyiratulmaorif), энсиклопедия (ensiklopediya)
  • Tatar: энциклопедия (entsiklopediya)
  • Telugu: విజ్ఞానసర్వస్వం (vijñānasarvasvaṁ)
  • Thai: สารานุกรม (th) (sǎa-raa-nú-grom)
  • Tigrinya: ኢንሳይክሎፐድያ (ʾinsaykəlopädya), መዝገበ ፍልጠት (mäzgäbä fəlṭät)
  • Turkish: ansiklopedi (tr)
  • Turkmen: ensiklopediýa
  • Ukrainian: енциклопе́дія f (encyklopédija)
  • Urdu: (please verify) جامع(jāme), (please verify) قاموس (ur) (qāmūs)
  • Uzbek: ensiklopediya (uz)
  • Vietnamese: bách khoa toàn thư (vi) (百科全書)
  • Volapük: sikloped (vo), (synonym) züklopäod, realasikloped
  • Welsh: gwyddoniadur (cy) m
  • West Frisian: ensyklopedy
  • Yakut: энциклопедия (entsiklopediya)
  • Yiddish: ענציקלאָפּעדיע‎ f (entsiklopedye)
  • Zazaki: ensiklopediye
  • Zealandic: encyclopedie

See also[edit]

  • dictionary

Further reading[edit]

  • encyclopedia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • encyclopedia in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

en·cy·clo·pe·di·a

 (ĕn-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- in Indo-European roots).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

encyclopedia

(ɛnˌsaɪkləʊˈpiːdɪə) or

encyclopaedia

n

(Journalism & Publishing) 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.

[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 and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

en•cy•clo•pe•di•a

or en•cy•clo•pae•di•a

(ɛnˌsaɪ kləˈpi di ə)

n.

a book or set of books containing articles on various topics, usu. in alphabetical arrangement, covering all branches of knowledge or all aspects of one subject.

[1525–35; < New Latin < Greek enkyklopaidía, a misreading of enkýklios paideía circular (i.e., well-rounded) education]

Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

encyclopedia, encyclopaedia

a book or set of books containing detailed knowledge and information about a variety of fxelds or subfields; an exhaustive work of learning 01 knowledge. Also called cyclopedia, cyclopaedia. — encyclopedist, encyclopaedist, n.encyclopedie, encyclopaedic, encyclopedical, encyclopaedical, adj.

See also: Books

-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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