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

Apart from its famous Devil portrait (more on that later), the codex contains an entire Bible, other historical texts, an encyclopedia, and medical treatises. —Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 25 Dec. 2025

Britannica has been losing market share since 1993, when Microsoft released its digital encyclopedia, Encarta. —Louis Menand, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025

Beginning in 1959, editors put in arduous work toward compiling the first encyclopedias written in Braille, the innovative code developed by Louis Braille in 19th century France. —Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 20 Dec. 2025

Our goal is to write an encyclopedia, and of course, there's still a lot of growth to be had for our communities in the developing world. —Dana Taylor, USA Today, 28 Nov. 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"