An encyclopedia (also spelled encyclopaedia or encyclopædia) is a comprehensive written compendium that holds information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. Encyclopedias are divided into articles with one article on each subject covered. The articles on subjects in an encyclopedia are usually accessed alphabetically by article name and can be contained in one volume or many volumes, depending on the amount of material included.

The word "encyclopaedia" comes from the Classical Greek "ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία" (transliterated "enkyklios paideia"), literally, a "[well-]rounded education", meaning "general knowledge". Though the notion of a compendium of knowledge dates back thousands of years, the term was first used in the title of a book in 1541 by Joachimus Fortius Ringelbergius, Lucubrationes vel potius absolutissima kyklopaideia (Basel, 1541). The word encyclopaedia was first used as a noun in the title of his book by the Croatian encyclopedist Pavao Skalić in his Encyclopaedia seu orbis disciplinarum tam sacrarum quam prophanarum epistemon (Encyclopaedia, or Knowledge of the World of Disciplines, Basel, 1559).

One of the oldest vernacular uses was by François Rabelais in his Pantagruel in 1532. Several encyclopaedias have names that include the suffix -p(a)edia, e.g., Banglapedia (on matters relevant for Bengal).

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