encyclopedia

American  

[en-sahy-kluh-pee-dee-uh] / ɛnˌsaɪ kləˈpi di ə /

Sometimes encyclopaedia

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.

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encyclopedia British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of encyclopedia

First recorded in 1525–35; from New Latin encyclopaedia, from Greek enkyklopaidía, a misreading of enkýklios paideía “circular (i.e., well-rounded) education”; encyclical, pedo- ¹

Example Sentences

Bat felt like looking through his animal encyclopedia, which he often did after school, so he pulled it down from the bookshelf and dropped comfortably onto his beanbag.

From Literature

To say that “On the Altar” functions more like an encyclopedia than a monograph may sound like criticism.

From The Wall Street Journal

Boomer Malone picked the James brothers, but then he couldn’t find them in the children’s encyclopedia.

From Literature

He left behind a seminal 37-volume encyclopedia, the “Natural History,” and the surviving letters of his nephew paint a colorful portrait of a workaholic who rarely slept.

From The Wall Street Journal

Rather than a textbook or encyclopedia entry—a digest of all the known facts—our model is the subtitle of Kenneth Clark’s 1969 “Civilisation” series: “A personal view.”

From The Wall Street Journal