encyclopedia

«encyclopedia» in Mova's school dictionary: a book or a set of books, or a website, with information… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (an encyclopedia, encyclopedias); UK also encyclopaedia

meaning for a pupil

1) An encyclopedia is a book or a set of books, or a website, with information about many subjects, usually in alphabetical order. tree →

2) (figurative) A person who knows a lot is sometimes called a walking encyclopedia. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school and the library pupils use encyclopedias for research projects; online encyclopedias like Wikipedia are written by volunteers. Teachers remind children to check facts in more than one source. Phrases: «look it up in an encyclopedia», «an online encyclopedia», «a walking encyclopedia».

examples

• Look up «volcanoes» in the encyclopedia. tree →
• Our library has a children's encyclopedia of animals. tree →
• Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia. tree →
• My grandad had a whole shelf of encyclopedias. tree →
• She knows everything about dinosaurs — she's a walking encyclopedia! tree →
• The encyclopedia has a picture of every planet. tree →
• Check the encyclopedia and one other source. tree →

note

Countable: an encyclopedia (use «an»). US spelling: encyclopedia; UK sometimes: encyclopaedia (both correct in the UK). Pronounced «en-SY-kloh-PEE-dee-uh». Adjective: encyclopedic (knowing a lot). Not the same as a dictionary, which explains words, not topics.

In the corpora

• The doctor Ibn Sina, known in Europe as Avicenna, wrote a great medical encyclopedia that European universities used for hundreds of years.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «encyclopedia» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.