encyclopedia
/ənˌsəɪ.kləˈpi.di.ə/noun
A wide-ranging reference work covering many areas of knowledge, produced in any format, not only as a set of books.
Example sentences
- “As a kid, I spent hours browsing the online encyclopedia for random facts.”
- “We used an old encyclopedia to look up facts about ancient Egypt.”
A 'walking encyclopedia' is a person who seems to know everything. British spelling sometimes keeps the extra vowel: 'encyclopaedia'.