encyclopaedia

Variant of encyclopedia

encyclopedia definition

en·cy·clo·pedia or encyclopaedia en·cy′·clo·pae′·dia (en sī′klə pē′dē ə, in-)

noun

  1. a book or set of books giving information on all or many branches of knowledge, generally in articles alphabetically arranged
  2. a similar work giving information in a particular field of knowledge an encyclopedia of philosophy

Etymology: ModL (1508) encyclopaedia < Gr enkyklopaideia, false reading for enkyklios paideia, instruction in the circle of the arts and sciences < enkyklios (en-, in + kyklos, a circle: see cycle) in a circle, general + paideia, education < paideuein, to educate, bring up a child < pais (gen. paidos), child: see pedo-

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.