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encyclopedia

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English

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Volumes 21–24 of Britannica's Macropædia (covering topics from India to Norway) in the Deutsches Museum's library.
Volumes 5–12 of the Encyclopedia Americana (covering topics from Bulgaria to Goethals) in the SUB Library at the University of Göttingen, Germany.

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *h₁en-
    Proto-Indo-European *h₁én
    Ancient Greek ἐν (en)
    Ancient Greek ἐν- (en-)
    Proto-Indo-European *kʷel-
    Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos
    Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos)
    Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.
    Ancient Greek -ιος (-ios)
    Ancient Greek ἐγκύκλῐος (enkúklĭos)
    Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w-der.
    Proto-Hellenic *pā́wits
    Ancient Greek παῖς (paîs)
    Ancient Greek -εύς (-eús)
    Ancient Greek -εύω (-eúō)
    Ancient Greek παιδεύω (paideúō)
    Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
    Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂
    Ancient Greek -ία (-ía)
    Ancient Greek παιδείᾱ (paideíā)
    Ancient Greek ἐγκύκλιος παιδείᾱ (enkúklios paideíā)bor.
    English encyclopedia

    Borrowed from New Latin encyclopēdīa, encyclopaedīa (“general education”), a univerbated form of Koine Greek ἐγκύκλιος παιδείᾱ (enkúklios paideíā, “education in the circle of arts and sciences”), from Ancient Greek ἐγκύκλιος (enkúklios, “circular”) + παιδείᾱ (paideíā, “childrearing; education”) (q.v.). Nearly all modern English usage of the word was influenced by the scope and format of the French Encyclopédie by Diderot et al. (see quotation).

    Pronunciation

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

    Noun

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    encyclopedia (plural encyclopedias or encyclopediae or encyclopediæ)

    2. 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.
      My old encyclopedia has been gathering dust on the shelf for the past decade.
      • 1751, Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert, “Discours Préliminaire”, in Richard N. Schwab, Walter E. Rex., transl., Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers‎[1], volume 1, Paris, pages 1–45; republished as “Preliminary Discourse”, in The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project (Web), Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2009 April 18:
        The Encyclopedia which we are presenting to the public is, as its title declares, the work of a society of men of letters. Were we not of their number, we might venture to affirm that they are all favorably known or worthy of being so.
      • 1920, George Edwin Rines, editor, Encyclopedia Americana‎[2], Volume X: Egusquiza – Falsetto, Encyclopædia:
        The first encyclopædia written in English and with the articles alphabetically arranged was the ‘Lexicon Technicum,’ […] [in 1704], by John Harris, a London clergyman. This was a useful and popular work, though it omitted from its scope theology, biography, antiquity and poetry.
      • 1998, “Desire”, in Billy Collins (lyrics), Tom Cipullo (music), Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House‎[3], performed by Matthew Morris (baritone) and Sungha Lee (pianist), Pepperdine University, Los Angeles: SongFest:
        It would be easier to compile an encyclopedia
        for you than to write these longhand letters
        whose ink blackens the night.
      • 2018 May 20, Bill Thayer, “Isidore of Seville: The Etymologies (or Origins)”, in LacusCurtius‎[4], archived from the original on July 13, 2012:
        [The Origins] can best be summarized, maybe, as an encyclopedia in the guise of an etymological dictionary, by a writer already centuries removed from some of his material.
      • 2018 July 5, Justin Zackal, quoting Jason Hilton (Assoc. Prof. of Education), “Encyclop[a]edia Britannica celebrates 250th anniversary”, in SRU News‎[5], Slippery Rock: Slippery Rock University, archived from the original on 2024-03-01:
        Encyclopedias were the original worldwide web. […] There was a time when you couldn't connect to the rest of the world and encyclopedias gave you that insight and they contained what people knew about everything.
      • 2025 March 5, Livia Gershon, “The Numinous World of Pliny the Elder”, in JSTOR Daily‎[6], archived from the original on 2025-04-06:
        Pliny the Elder’s Natural History is a go-to source for understanding what ancient Romans believed about the world and the model for every encyclopedia since.
    4. Similarly comprehensive works in other formats.
      Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
      The ancient Mesopotamians never got to write an encyclopedia on stone.
      • 2009 April 15, Reid Goldsborough, “Internet Encyclopedias in Flux”, in InformationToday‎[7], archived from the original on 2024-08-14:
        To gain market share, Microsoft gave away its CD-ROM encyclopedia with many new computers, a strategy similar to those it has used in other areas.
      • 2018 December 6, Encyclopaedia Britannica Group, “Encyclopaedia Britannica to Mark 250th Anniversary and 25th Year on the Internet”, in PR Newswire‎[8], Cision US Inc., archived from the original on 2024-12-05:
        The anniversary also coincides with the 25th anniversary of Britannica Online (eb.com), the first encyclopedia on the Internet and one of the first major publications on the World Wide Web.
      • 2019 September, Esther Ferington, “Online State Encyclopedias”, in NEH Projects‎[9], National Endowment for the Humanities, archived from the original on 2025-03-29:
        The New Georgia Encyclopedia, which describes itself as “the first state encyclopedia designed exclusively for online publication,” went live in 2004.
    6. (dated, specifically) The circle of arts and sciences (see Etymology); a comprehensive summary of knowledge, or of a branch thereof.
      His life's work is a four-volume encyclopedia of aviation topics.
      I have no idea how to build this model railroad, so I'm gonna look it up on Trainpedia, the encyclopedia for all things model train.
      • 2003, Ronnie James Dio, “Foreword”, in Daniel Bukszpan, The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal‎[10] (Paperback), United States: Sterling, →ISBN, page 13:
        Daniel Bukszpan presents for your viewing and reading pleasure, The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal. […] I see my own life reflected in the pages of the Encyclopedia. We all wanted to be bigger than life, but never as big as our heroes.
      • 2006, B. J. Blake, “Classification of Languages”, in Keith Brown, Sarah Ogilvie, editors, Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World‎[11] (eBook), La Trobe University, Bundoora: Elsevier Ltd., →ISBN, Genetic Classification, page 246; republished Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 2010:
        All of the Indo-European languages treated in this encyclopedia are included in the alphabetic list of families and other large groupings in the last section of this article.
      • 2009, Dana K. Cassell and David H. Gleaves, “FOREWORD”, in The Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders‎[12], Third Edition (eBook), Ukraine: Facts On File, Inc., →ISBN, page viii:
        Since the publication of the second edition of the encyclopedia, there have been numerous developments in the obesity and eating disorders field.

    Usage notes

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    • The spelling encyclopedia is standard in American English, common in Canadian English, accepted in Australian and International English, and also very common in British English although nonstandard. Oxford spelling prefers the etymologized form encyclopaedia, reflecting the αι diphthong of Ancient Greek παιδεία. The variant with the æ ligature still appears in the titles of some encyclopaedic works, but it is otherwise archaic in ordinary usage.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    See also

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    Further reading

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