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

Some encyclopedia, to have plenty of toilet paper. —Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 28 May 2026

Holmquist traces his devotion to history back to age 7, when his parents bought him a set of encyclopedias. —Jim Dudlicek, Chicago Tribune, 24 May 2026

Record Club pulls all of its data from the open-source music encyclopedia MusicBrainz. —Terrence O'Brien, The Verge, 23 May 2026

In the encyclopedia era, information was static and curated. —Bruce Broussard, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026

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"