en ‧ cy ‧ clo ‧ pe ‧ di ‧ a BrE AmE ( also encyclopaedia British English ) /ɪnˌsaɪkləˈpiːdiə/ noun [countable]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Medieval Latin ; Origin: encyclopaedia 'course of general education' , from Greek enkyklios paideia 'general education' ]
a book or ↑ CD , or a set of these, containing facts about many different subjects, or containing detailed facts about one subject:
the Encyclopedia of Music