encyclopedia

encyclopedia
\ \ [16] Etymologically, encyclopedia means ‘general education’. It is a medieval formation, based on the Greek phrase egkúklios paideíā (egkúklios, a compound adjective formed from the prefix en- ‘in’ and kúkloscircle’ – source of English cycle – meant originally ‘circular’, and hence ‘general’, and is the ultimate source of English encyclical [17]; paideíāeducation’ was a derivative of paísboy, child’, which has given English paederast [18], paedophilia [20], pedagogue [14], pedant [16], and paediatrician [20]). This referred to the general course of education which it was customary to give a child in classical Greece, and after it was merged into a single word egkuklopaideíā and transmitted via medieval Latin encyclopedia into English, it retained that meaning at first. However, in the 17th century the term began to be applied to compendious reference works (the first, or at least the one which did most to establish the name, was perhaps that of J H Alsted in 1632). The Encyclopedia Britannica was first published in 1768.
\ \ Cf.CYCLE, ENCYCLICAL, PAEDERAST, PEDAGOGUE, PEDANT, PEDIATRICIAN

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Encyclopedia — • An abridgment of human knowledge in general or a considerable department thereof, treated from a uniform point of view or in a systematized summary Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Encyclopedia     Encyclopedia …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Encyclopedia — Encyclopédia Création 2 avril 1996 Slogan «  La chaîne de la connaissance  » Langue Français Pays d origine …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Encyclopédia — Création 2 avril 1996 Slogan «  La chaîne de la connaissance  » Langue Français Pays d origine …   Wikipédia en Français

  • encyclopedia — index hornbook Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 encyclopedia …   Law dictionary

  • encyclopedia — or encyclopaedia [en sī΄klə pē′dē ə, insī΄klə pē′dē ə] n. [ModL (1508) encyclopaedia < Gr enkyklopaideia, false reading for enkyklios paideia, instruction in the circle of the arts and sciences < enkyklios ( en , in + kyklos, a circle: see… …   English World dictionary

  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • encyclopedia — 1530s, course of instruction, from Mod.L. encyclopaedia (c.1500), thought to be a false reading by Latin authors of Gk. enkyklios paideia taken as general education, but lit. training in a circle, i.e. the circle of arts and sciences, the… …   Etymology dictionary

  • encyclopedia — (also encyclopaedia) ► NOUN ▪ a book or set of books giving information on many subjects or on many aspects of one subject, typically arranged alphabetically. ORIGIN pseudo Greek enkuklopaideia, for enkuklios paideia all round education …   English terms dictionary

  • Encyclopedia — This article is about the type of reference work. For other uses, see Encyclopedia (disambiguation). Brockhaus Enzyklopädie in 1902 An encyclopedia (also spelled encyclopaedia or encyclopædia) is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a… …   Wikipedia

  • encyclopedia — (BrE also paedia) noun ADJECTIVE ▪ online ▪ illustrated ▪ medical ▪ baseball, football, etc. (esp. AmE) …   Collocations dictionary

  • encyclopedia */ — UK [ɪnˌsaɪkləˈpiːdɪə] / US [ɪnˌsaɪkləˈpɪdɪə] noun [countable] Word forms encyclopedia : singular encyclopedia plural encyclopedias a book or set of books giving information about a lot of different subjects or about one particular subject an… …   English dictionary

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