noun
also en·cy·clo·pae·dia ə̇nˌsīkləˈpēdēə, (ˌ)en-, in rapid speech sometimes -dē in some contexts, as in “Encyclopaedia Britannica”
( -s )
Etymology: Medieval Latin encyclopaedia course of general education, from a supposed Greek enkyklopaideia (in MSS of the Roman rhetorician Quintilian), from Greek enkyklios paideia general education, from enkyklios general + paideia education, rearing of a child, from paid-, pais child — more at foal
: a work that treats comprehensively all the various branches of knowledge and that is usually composed of individual articles arranged alphabetically ; also : such a work treating only a particular branch of knowledge
an encyclopedia of agriculture
an encyclopedia of religion