Cyclopaedia

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cyclopedia \Cy`clo*pe"di*a\ Cyclopaedia
  \Cy`clo*p[ae]"di*a\(s?`kl?-p?"d?-?), n. [NL., from Gr. ky`klos
     circle + paidei`a the bringing up of a child, education,
     erudition, fr. paidey`ein to bring up a child. See {Cycle},
     and cf. {Encyclopedia}, {Pedagogue}.]
     1. The circle or compass of the arts and sciences


        (originally, of the seven so-called liberal arts and
        sciences); circle of human knowledge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Hence: A work containing, in alphabetical order,
        information in all departments of knowledge, or on a
        particular department or branch; as, a cyclopedia of the
        physical sciences, or of mechanics; an encyclopedia. See
        {Encyclopedia}.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  cyclopaedia
       n : a reference work (often in several volumes) containing
           articles on various topics (often arranged in
           alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of
           human knowledge or with some particular specialty [syn: {encyclopedia},
            {cyclopedia}, {encyclopaedia}]