Encyclopedia

An (alternatively encyclopaedia/encyclopædia) is a written compendium of knowledge. The term comes from the Greek {{polytonic|????????? ???????}} (engkuklios paideia), literally "a rounded education". Many encyclopedias are titled Cyclopaedia and the terms are interchangeable.

Note on spelling

Owing to differences in American and British English orthographic conventions, the spellings "encyclopaedia" and "encyclopedia" both see common use in British and Commonwealth- and American-influenced sources, respectively. (The British spelling is sometimes rendered encyclopædia, with the æ ligature). The digraph ae or æ, the normal Latin rendering of the Greek diphthong ??, is usually changed to e in American orthography, for example in other words from the root paid- such as paediatrician (American pediatrician). Contemporary British usage often makes the same simplification; in this case, though, the Oxford English Dictionary asserts that the spelling with æ "has been preserved from becoming obsolete by the fact that many of the works so called have Latin titles, as Encyclopædia Britannica", which use the spelling with æ in their names.

Related Topics:
Differences in American and British English orthographic conventions - British and Commonwealth - American - æ - Ligature - Digraph - Diphthong

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Both the British Oxford English Dictionary and the US Webster's Third New International Dictionary permit both spellings. The citations given in the OED are roughly evenly divided between the two spellings.

Related Topics:
Oxford English Dictionary - Webster's Third New International Dictionary

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