encyclopedist

or en·cy·clo·pae·dist

[ en-sahy-kluh-pee-dist ]

noun

1. a compiler of or contributor to an encyclopedia.
2. (often initial capital letter) one of the collaborators on the French Encyclopedia.

encyclopedist

/ ɛnˌsaɪkləʊˈpiːdɪst /

noun

1. a person who compiles or contributes to an encyclopedia

Derived Forms

• enˌcycloˈpedism, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of encyclopedist¹

First recorded in 1645–55; encycloped(ia) + -ist

Example Sentences

Du Bois-Reymond was once lauded as “the foremost naturalist of Europe,” “the last of the encyclopedists,” and “one of the greatest scientists Germany ever produced.”

From Scientific American

Until the moment, in the late seventeen-forties, when he was asked to undertake the Encyclopédie, Denis Diderot was mainly a figure of the low Enlightenment, and might have seemed a quite improbable encyclopedist.

From The New Yorker

His robot encyclopedist spoke in magnetic poetry phrases, which occasionally yielded uncanny reproductions of Plinian syntax but often fell flat.

From The New Yorker

Ancient encyclopedists, monks, theologians: the forgers of the chapter.

From The New Yorker

The classical tradition in the beginning was affected by the mistaken theories of medieval encyclopedists and by humanistic misinterpretations of the classics.

From Project Gutenberg