en·cy·clo·pe·di·a ( n-s  kl -p  d-)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. |
encyclopedia or encyclopaedia
Noun
a book or set of books, often in alphabetical order, containing facts about many different subjects or about one particular subject [Greek enkuklios general + paideia education]
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
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  encyclopedia - a reference work (often in several volumes) containing articles on various topics (often arranged in alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of human knowledge or with some particular specialtybook of facts, reference book, reference work, reference - a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic" book of knowledge - an elementary encyclopedia dealing with general knowledge |
Translations
n encyclop(a)edia [insaikləˈpiːdiə]
a reference work containing information on every branch of knowledge, or on one particular branch an encyclopaedia of jazz; If you do not know the capital city of Hungary, look it up in an encyclopaedia. ensiklopedie مَوْسوعَه، دائِرَة مَعارِف енциклопедия encyklopedie leksikon; encyclopædi die Enzyklopädie εγκυκλοπαίδεια enciclopedia entsüklopeedia دایره المعارف؛ دانشنامه tietosanakirja encyclopédie אִנצִיקלוֹפֶּדיָה विश्वकोश enciklopedija enciklopédia, lexikon ensiklopedi alfræðiorðabók, alfræðirit enciclopedia 百科事典 백과 사전 enciklopedija enciklopēdija ensiklopedia encyclopedie leksikon, oppslagsverk encyklopedia enciclopédia enciclopedie энциклопедия encyklopédia enciklopedija enciklopedija encyklopedi, uppslagsbok สารานุกรม ansiklopedi 百科全書 енциклопедія دائرة المعارف bách khoa toàn thư 百科全书
adj enˌcycloˈp(a)edic
ensiklopedies, veelsydig مَوْسوعي енциклопедичен encyklopedický leksikalt; encyclopædisk enzyklopädisch εγκυκλοπαιδικός enciclopédico entsüklopeediline دایره المعارفی ensyklopedinen encyclopédique אִנצִיקלוֹפֶּדִי विश्व के समान, अतिव्यापक enciklopedijski enciklopédikus ensiklopedis fjölfræðilegur, alfræði- enciclopedico 百科事典的な 백과 사전의, 박식한 enciklopedinis enciklopēdisks berkaitan ensiklopedia encyclopedisch omfattende, encyklopedisk encyklopedyczny enciclopédico enciclopedic энциклопедический encyklopedický enciklopedičen enciklopedijski encyklopedisk ที่เกี่ยวกับสารานุกรม ansiklopedik 百科全書的 енциклопедичний قاموسی thuộc bách khoa toàn thư 百科全书的
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|