Encyclopedia

3 definitions found

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

  Encyclopedia \En*cy`clo*pe"di*a\, Encyclopaedia
  \En*cy`clo*p[ae]"di*a\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, for ? ?, instruction
     in the circle of arts and sciences: cf. F. encyclop['e]die.
     See {Cyclopedia}, and {Encyclical}.] [Formerly written
     {encyclop[ae]dy} and {encyclopedy}.]
     The full circle of arts and sciences; a comprehensive summary


     of knowledge, or of a branch of knowledge; esp., a work in
     which the various branches of science or art are discussed
     separately, and usually in alphabetical order; a cyclopedia.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  encyclopedia
       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: {cyclopedia},
            {encyclopaedia}, {cyclopaedia}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  34 Moby Thesaurus words for "encyclopedia":
     atlas, bibliography, body of knowledge, body of learning, calendar,
     casebook, catalog, catalogue raisonne, city directory,
     classified catalog, concordance, cyclopedia, diatesseron,
     dictionary catalog, directory, gazetteer, harmony, index,
     literature, lore, materials, phone book, polyglot, publications,
     record book, reference book, source book, store of knowledge,
     studbook, system of knowledge, telephone book, telephone directory,
     treasury of information, work of reference