Encyclopaedia (spelling)

The word encyclopaedia, with its derivatives like encyclopaediast (a maker of encyclopaedias) and encyclopaedic ('aiming to embrace all that is known about...'), is spelled in two ways:

• in British English, as above, encyclopaedia (or encyclopædia, encyclopædiast, encyclopædic etc: see æ (typography));
• in American English, following the spelling reforms initiated by Webster's Dictionary (1828), it has been normalized as encyclopedia, encyclopediast, encyclopedic etc.

The 'British' version remains strong on both sides of the Atlantic because Encyclopædia Britannica is still written thus, although now being written in the United States: and, according to OED (1891), "by the fact that many of the works so called have Latin titles, as Encyclopædia Britannica, Londinensis, etc." The 'American' version remains strong, particularly in works of popular reference, not least because of the powerful influence and example of wikipedia.

Etymological note: encyclopaedia is derived from an "erroneous form (said to be a false reading) occurring in MSS [manuscripts] of Quintilian, Pliny, and Galen, for ἐγκύκλιοs παιδεία [enkuklios paideia] 'encyclical education', the circle of arts and sciences considered by the Greeks as essential to a liberal education" OED. The word shares its root, cycle (~ 'circle') with 'bicycle', 'cyclical' and 'encyclical' which is a form of 'circular letter' - nowadays almost always one written by The Pope.