Encyclopedia

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

An encyclopedia (or encyclopædia, cyclopædia) is a collection (usually a book) of information about things humans know.

[change] Word origin

The word "encyclopedia" is Latin and comes from Greek. The words "εγκύκλιος παιδεία", enkyklios paideia mean "in a circle of teaching". It is from "εγκύκλιος", in a circle from "κύκλος" circle and "παιδεία", meaning teaching.

The word "εγκύκλιος" can also mean "general": perhaps the people who made the Latin name "encyclopedia" did not understand the Greek word well. Perhaps the name should mean "general teaching". In Canada and the UK, and some other countries affected by the British Empire, encyclopedia is spelt mostly as "encyclopædia".

[change] History

People have made encyclopedias for hundreds of years, but the name "encyclopedia" is from the 16th century.

[change] Types of encyclopedias

There are different types of encyclopedia. Some are general and have pages on lots of topics. The English language Encyclopædia Britannica and German Brockhaus are general encyclopedias. Some are about specific topics. For example, there are encyclopedias of medicine or philosophy. There are also some encyclopedias that have lots of topics with one point of view or one cultural bias. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia is one of these.

Many dictionaries have a different sort of information as encyclopedias. Examples are the Dictionary of National Biography, the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, and Black's Law Dictionary.

There are two main ways of organizing encyclopedias: from A to Z (the alphabetical way) or by categories. Most encyclopedias go from A to Z.

There are also printed encyclopedias, and encyclopedias in the computer, such as Wikipedia, the largest computer encyclopedia.