encyclopaedia

en·cy·clo·pae·dia
E1N1C3Y4C3L1O1P3A1E1D2I1A1
Canada, UK, US/ɪnˌsaɪ.kləˈpi(ː).di.ə/Canada, UK, US/ɛn-/

noun

Commonwealth standard spelling of encyclopedia.

Similar
encyclopediacyclopediacyclopaedia
OriginNew Latin encyclopaedia →
Less commonScrabble 23
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounencyclopaedia (plural encyclopaedias or encyclopaediae)

plural encyclopaedias · plural encyclopaediae

  1. Commonwealth standard spelling of encyclopedia.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna 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

Similar
encyclopediacyclopediacyclopaedia
Broader
reference bookreferencereference work
Also see
cyclopaediaencyclopedia

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. New Latinencyclopaedia
  2. Englishencyclopaedia

Borrowed from New Latin encyclopaedia; the English word is an etymologically restored spelling variant of earlier encyclopedia, q.v.

More words from New Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with encyclopaedia

mediamultimediaencyclopediawikipediahypermediacybermediacyclopaediaold media
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

encyclopaedia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/encyclopaedia

MLA

“encyclopaedia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/encyclopaedia. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “encyclopaedia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/encyclopaedia.

Source: encyclopaedia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.