Encyclopedia/Talk

I think this entry deserves to be developed much further, as it pretty much sets the compass for the entire project. --Seb

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Cyclopedia is the old form of the word encyclopedia.

We sure? M-W lists the word as coming from the Greek enkyklios meaning something along the lines of course and paedeia meaning education or child-rearing. Btw, that would also make LMS wrong when he says encyclopedias aren't for educating. ;)

Er, no, it wouldn't. It would say something about the etymology of the word.

Ah, but etymology itself comes from the Greek etymos meaning true and logos meaning meaning, so clearly the etymology tells us the definition, by applying the logical technique of affirming the consequent (proof by assertion to mathematicians). Oh, and a smiley frequently means I'm kidding. :)

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An encyclopedia is the delusion that everything can be usefully summarized in a few pages.