as in books
a reference work that contains information about many different subjects or a lot of information about a particular subject
The school library's encyclopedia occupied much of the bookshelf. an encyclopedia of literature
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Recent Examples of encyclopedias
Beginning in 1959, editors put in arduous work toward compiling the first encyclopedias written in Braille, the innovative code developed by Louis Braille in 19th century France.
—
Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 20 Dec. 2025
Instead, the eight search results ranged from a general entry about online encyclopedias to seven entries primarily about Wikipedia.
—NPR, 29 Oct. 2025
Outdated sets of children’s encyclopedias that speak in the Voice of Empire.
—Teddy Wayne
september 9, Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2025
Over the years, the team at Locust Grove, 561 Blankenbaker Lane, has seen all types of books come through its doors ahead of the sale — children's books, novels, encyclopedias, self-help books and more.
—Lillian Metzmeier, The Courier-Journal, 18 Aug. 2025
Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 20 Dec. 2025
Instead, the eight search results ranged from a general entry about online encyclopedias to seven entries primarily about Wikipedia.
—NPR, 29 Oct. 2025
Outdated sets of children’s encyclopedias that speak in the Voice of Empire.
—Teddy Wayne
september 9, Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2025
Over the years, the team at Locust Grove, 561 Blankenbaker Lane, has seen all types of books come through its doors ahead of the sale — children's books, novels, encyclopedias, self-help books and more.
—Lillian Metzmeier, The Courier-Journal, 18 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encyclopedias
Noun
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Since May 1996, a group of neighbors has met almost every month to talk about books.—
Maggie Penman,
Washington Post,
1 May 2026
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There are also samples of children’s programs from the 1800s and early 1900s, as well as small leather school attendance books that were handwritten by the founders of the church.—
Myrna Petlicki,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The club supplies 1,000 dictionaries each year for third graders at 10 Darien schools, as well as supports leadership training for high school students, NAMI DuPage, Humanitarian Service Project food for senior citizens in Darien, recycling events and environmental grants.—
Melinda Moore,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
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The word was considered so vulgar that it was left out of early dictionaries and was rarely printed, though Adams says people were certainly using it.—
Harmeet Kaur,
CNN Money,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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APIs, standardized catalogs, checkout systems, and payment protocols like AP2 make agent integration natural.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Fortune,
2 May 2026
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Reference catalogues can help decode them.—
Nicole Anderson,
Architectural Digest,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Encyclopedias.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encyclopedias. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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