encyclopedia

noun

en·​cy·​clo·​pe·​dia in-ˌsī-klə-ˈpē-dē-ə 

: a work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or treats comprehensively a particular branch of knowledge usually in articles arranged alphabetically often by subject

Examples of encyclopedia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The new online encyclopedia, which suffered technical difficulties upon launch, uses xAI’s Grok large language model to pull information and supposedly prioritize objectivity. —Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 29 Oct. 2025

Instead, the eight search results ranged from a general entry about online encyclopedias to seven entries primarily about Wikipedia. —NPR, 29 Oct. 2025

Finally, Musk used that AI model to write an anti-woke encyclopedia. —Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2025

That opening sentence was lifted wholesale from Wikipedia, the revolutionary online encyclopedia that elevated Wales into cultural legend. —Big Think, 28 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin encyclopaedia course of general education, from Greek enkyklios + paideia education, child rearing, from paid-, pais child — more at few

First Known Use

1644, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for encyclopedia

• cyclopaedia
• cyclopedia
• hypermedia
• intermedia
• multimedia
• comedia
• commedia
• encyclopaedia

Kids Definition

encyclopedia

noun

en·​cy·​clo·​pe·​dia

variants also encyclopaedia

in-ˌsī-klə-ˈpēd-ē-ə

: a work that contains information on all subjects or one that covers a certain subject thoroughly usually with articles arranged alphabetically

Etymology

from Latin encyclopedia "course of general education," from Greek enkyklios "general, all-around," literally, "circular" and Greek paideia "education, child rearing"