encyclopedia

English Online Dictionary. What means encyclopedia‎? What does encyclopedia mean?

English

Alternative forms

• encyclopaedia (UK)
• encyclopædia (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin encyclopędīa (“general education”), variant of encyclopaedīa, 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. (The Old Latin diphthong /ai̯/ (Classical /ae̯/) had coalesced into /ɛː/ and subsequently merged with long /eː/ by the time the Greek loanword entered Neo-Latin. Since Classical and post-Classical orthography rarely marked vowel length, long /eː/ was often represented by a simple <e>. In cases in which it was derived from the earlier diphthong, writers occasionally used <ę>, which may have originated from the <æ> ligature.) Nearly all modern English use of the word influenced by the scope and format of Diderot & al.'s French Encyclopédie.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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.

3. Similarly comprehensive works in other formats.

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

Usage notes

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, which restores the αι diphthong in 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

Related terms

Translations

See also

• dictionary

Further reading

• encyclopedia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “encyclopedia”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.