encyclopedia
en·cy·clo·pe·di·a/ɪnˌsaɪkləˈpidi.ə/noun
encyclopedia is spelled E-N-C-Y-C-L-O-P-E-D-I-A, 6 syllables: en·cy·clo·pe·di·a. The wrong spelling people search most is encylopedia: about 110 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 51 of all searches for the word. Encyclopedia is a noun meaning “A comprehensive reference work (often spanning several printed volumes) with articles (usually arranged in…”. The plural of encyclopedia is encyclopedias or encyclopediae.
How many letters and syllables are in encyclopedia?
| Letters | 12: E-N-C-Y-C-L-O-P-E-D-I-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 6: en·cy·clo·pe·di·a |
| In writing | 3.3 times per million words; the 14,509th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, encylopedia, about 110 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell encyclopedia?
Encyclopedia is spelled E-N-C-Y-C-L-O-P-E-D-I-A. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 51 of the searches for encyclopedia in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is encyclopedia?
Encyclopedia appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce encyclopedia?
- UK /ɪnˌsaɪkləˈpiːdi.ə/
- US /ɪnˌsaɪkləˈpidi.ə/
- Canada /ənˌsəɪkləˈpidi.ə/
Encyclopedia has 6 syllables, split en·cy·clo·pe·di·a in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-encyclopedia.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with encyclopedia?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as encyclopedia from its last stressed vowel (/idiə/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of encyclopedia
- encyclopedias plural
- encyclopediae plural
- encyclopediæ plural
- encyclopaedia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does encyclopedia mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A comprehensive reference work (often spanning several printed volumes) with articles (usually arranged in alphabetical order, or sometimes arranged by category) on a range of subjects, sometimes general, sometimes limited to a particular field.
I only use the library for the encyclopedia, as we’ve got most other books here.
- 2
Similarly comprehensive works in other formats.
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
- 3
datedThe circle of arts and sciences (see Etymology); a comprehensive summary of knowledge, or of a branch thereof.
His life's work is a four-volume encyclopedia of aviation topics.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate encyclopedia?
Wiktionary records 5 abbreviations of encyclopedia: encl, ency, encyc, encyc., encycl.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Encyclopedia in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense comprehensive reference work with articles on a range of topics:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | encyclopédie |
| German | Enzyklopädie, Lexikon, Konversationslexikon, Realencyclopädie, Realwörterbuch |
| Portuguese | enciclopédia |
| Spanish | enciclopedia |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.