From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Cyclopedia \Cy`clo*pe"di*a\ Cyclopaedia
\Cy`clo*p[ae]"di*a\(s?`kl?-p?"d?-?), n. [NL., from Gr. ky`klos
circle + paidei`a the bringing up of a child, education,
erudition, fr. paidey`ein to bring up a child. See Cycle,
and cf. Encyclopedia, Pedagogue.]
1. The circle or compass of the arts and sciences
(originally, of the seven so-called liberal arts and
sciences); circle of human knowledge.
[1913 Webster]
2. Hence: A work containing, in alphabetical order,
information in all departments of knowledge, or on a
particular department or branch; as, a cyclopedia of the
physical sciences, or of mechanics; an encyclopedia. See
Encyclopedia.
[PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
cyclopedia
n 1: a reference work (often in several volumes) containing
articles on various topics (often arranged in alphabetical
order) dealing with the entire range of human knowledge or
with some particular specialty [syn: encyclopedia,
cyclopedia, encyclopaedia, cyclopaedia]