Plural of encyclopedia; multiple comprehensive reference books containing articles on many subjects arranged alphabetically or by topic.
British English plural of encyclopedia, from the Greek root enkyklios paideia meaning 'complete education.' The plural form has been standard since encyclopedias began circulating as multiple-volume sets.
A single encyclopedia is useless without the others—the first complete English Cyclopaedia by Ephraim Chambers came as one volume in 1728, but Britannica needed multiple volumes to cover everything.
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