as in dictionary
a reference work that contains information about many different subjects or a lot of information about a particular subject
The school library's encyclopedia occupied much of the bookshelf. an encyclopedia of literature
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of encyclopedia
Dielz’s encyclopedia of flowers contains illustrations of and factoids, poems, and myths about flowers.
—
Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 7 Apr. 2026
Our famed encyclopedia — first published in 1768 but all digital today — remains the oldest continuously published and revised work in the English language.
—Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2 Apr. 2026
Google didn’t have to persuade people that typing a question into a search bar was better than navigating directories or flipping through encyclopedias.
—Ira Belsky, Forbes.com, 20 Mar. 2026
In the complaint, which Reuters reported on Monday, Britannica claimed that OpenAI unlawfully copied nearly 100,000 of its online articles and encyclopedia and dictionary entries to teach its GPT family of models.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for encyclopedia
Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 7 Apr. 2026
Our famed encyclopedia — first published in 1768 but all digital today — remains the oldest continuously published and revised work in the English language.
—Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2 Apr. 2026
Google didn’t have to persuade people that typing a question into a search bar was better than navigating directories or flipping through encyclopedias.
—Ira Belsky, Forbes.com, 20 Mar. 2026
In the complaint, which Reuters reported on Monday, Britannica claimed that OpenAI unlawfully copied nearly 100,000 of its online articles and encyclopedia and dictionary entries to teach its GPT family of models.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for encyclopedia
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encyclopedia
Noun
-
Virginia’s Supreme Court majority sought an answer in dictionaries, which define the word as the act or process of choosing.—
Harmeet Kaur,
CNN Money,
13 May 2026
-
Oxford University Press added the word to its dictionary in 2015.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
1 May 2026
Noun
-
The catalog was the visible part.—
Gabriel Alin Zainescu,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2026
-
From about 1910 to around 1950, Sander sought to make nothing less than a visual catalogue of all the types and professions in Germany.—
Max Norman,
New Yorker,
21 May 2026
Noun
-
Her shelves contained books on correct etiquette when entertaining (How to Do It, or, The Lively Art of Entertaining by Elsa Maxwell) and instructional books covering many areas of life, ranging from gardening and raising Siamese cats to keeping turtles.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 May 2026
-
Living Room Luxury hotels always nail the little details, and coffee table books are one of the easiest ways to recreate that layered, curated feel at home.—
Rosie Marder,
Travel + Leisure,
25 May 2026
Noun
-
The textbook story has these planets forming in essentially the same way Earth did, just with different amounts of leftover gas piled on top.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
24 May 2026
-
This is a textbook public goods problem.—
Shivaram Rajgopal,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Encyclopedia.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encyclopedia. Accessed 26 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
