Having the nature, scope, or characteristics of an encyclopedia; comprehensively informative about many subjects.
Formed by adding -al to encyclopaedic (itself from encyclopedia + -ic). This doubly-suffixed form is quite rare and represents older British scholarly usage.
The '-ical' ending (as in 'methodical' vs 'methodic') often makes words sound more formal and even slightly archaic—this is why you almost never see this version used today.
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