encyclopedia

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From what I have seen, this encyclopedia is a serious project, therefore does not have an entertainment section.

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Definitions (3)

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  1. noun A comprehensive reference work containing articles on a wide range of subjects or on numerous aspects of a particular field, usually arranged alphabetically.
  2. Word History
    The word encyclopedia, which to us usually means a large set of books, descends from a phrase that involved coming to grips with the contents of such books. The Greek phrase is enkuklios paideia, made up of enkuklios, "cyclical, periodic, ordinary,” and paideia, "education,” and meaning "general education.” Copyists of Latin manuscripts took this phrase to be a single Greek word, enkuklopaedia, with the same meaning, and this spurious Greek word became the New Latin word encyclopaedia, coming into English with the sense "general course of instruction,” first recorded in 1531. In New Latin the word was chosen as the title of a reference work covering all knowledge. The first such use in English is recorded in 1644.

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Examples (14)

  • I would love to help tidy up this amateur article, but the childish English throughout, combined with the fact that the article is locked, leave me to believe it is not possible, and this encyclopedia is anything but —  Conservapedia - Recent changes [en]
  • Cauz said Britannica subscribers and authors of articles for the encyclopedia will be given access to a separate area, where they can write articles on any topic they choose. —  Boston.com Most Popular
  • From what I have seen, this encyclopedia is a serious project, therefore does not have an entertainment section. —  Conservapedia - Recent changes [en]
  • My contribution to the encyclopedia is the article on fascism. —  Free Association
  • They are the very best kind of encyclopedia -- hugely informative and wildly entertaining. —  AltWeeklies.com Site Feed
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Etymologies (1)

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  1. Medieval Latin encyclopaedia, general education course, from alteration of Greek enkuklios paideia, general education : enkuklios, circular, general; see encyclical + paideia, education (from pais, paid-, child; see pau-1 in Indo-European roots).
 

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/ɛnsajkloʊkˈpidɪə/
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