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An encyclopedia[a] is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline.[1][2] Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by article name[3] or by thematic categories, or, on online encyclopedias, are hyperlinked and searchable.[4] Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries.[3][5] Generally speaking, encyclopedia articles focus on factual information concerning the subject named in the article's title;[5] this is unlike dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic information about words, such as their etymology, meaning, pronunciation, use, and grammatical forms.[5][6][7][8][9]

Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years[10] and have evolved considerably during that time as regards language (written in a major international or a vernacular language), size (few or many volumes), intent (presentation of a global or a limited range of knowledge), cultural perspective (authoritative, ideological, didactic, utilitarian), authorship (qualifications, style), readership (education level, background, interests, capabilities), and the technologies available for their production and distribution (hand-written manuscripts, small or large print runs, Internet). As a valued source of reliable information compiled by experts, printed versions found a prominent place in libraries, schools, and other educational institutions.[11]

In the 21st century, the appearance of digital and open-source versions such as Wikipedia (together with the wiki website format) has vastly expanded the accessibility, authorship, readership, and variety of encyclopedia entries.[12]

Etymology

Medieval manuscript containing the Greek phrase "enkúklios paideía"

A 15th-century manuscript of Institutio Oratoria. The Greek root of the word encyclopedia is highlighted.

The word encyclopedia comes from the Koine Greek ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία,[13] transliterated enkúklios paideía 'general education', from enkúklios (ἐγκύκλιος) 'circular, recurrent, required regularly, general'[5][14] and paideía (παιδεία) 'education, rearing of a child'; together, the phrase literally translates as 'complete instruction, complete knowledge'.[15] However, the two separate words were reduced to a single word due to a scribal error[16] by copyists of a Latin manuscript edition of Quintillian in 1470.[17] The copyists took this phrase to be a single Greek word, enkuklopaideía, with the same meaning, and this spurious Greek word became the Neo-Latin word encyclopaedia, which was in turn borrowed into English. Because of this compounded word, readers since the fifteenth century have often, and incorrectly, thought that the Roman authors Quintillian and Pliny described an ancient genre.[18] Following Noah Webster's spelling reform,[19] the spelling of the word varies between encyclopedia in American English, encyclopaedia in British English (although the spelling encyclopedia is increasingly gaining acceptance), and encyclopædia in certain specialized cases.[20]