ENCYCLOPEDIA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does encyclopedia mean? 

• ENCYCLOPEDIA (noun)
  The noun ENCYCLOPEDIA has 1 sense:

1. 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

  Familiarity information: ENCYCLOPEDIA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENCYCLOPEDIA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

cyclopaedia; cyclopedia; encyclopaedia; encyclopedia

Hypernyms ("encyclopedia" is a kind of...):

book of facts; reference; reference book; reference work (a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "encyclopedia"):

book of knowledge (an elementary encyclopedia dealing with general knowledge)

 Context examples 

Meg liked his quiet manners and considered him a walking encyclopedia of useful knowledge.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)