Episode 222: Encyclopaedia

Your Greek Word On A Sunday

(Intro & piano music)
If you see and Ancient Greek text, you'll understand it's difficult to know when a word ends and another begins. Today's word is a combined one, not by choice but by accident of someone who wasn't sure how to read it. Εν means in, κύκλος is circle and παιδεία is education. The Ancient Greeks had circles of education subjects. The Arts, Sciences etc. When you've completed one, you had an εγκυκλος παιδεία, a circled education on that subject. With time, the meaning widened to a general education, a rounded one, one containing all subjects. In the 15th century when the Romans were translating ancient Greek Texts, they mistook the three words for one and in the 18th century people thought, a book with as much general knowledge as possible should be named after that. ΕΓΚΥΚΛΟΠΑΙΔΕΙΑ/ENCYCLOPEDIA

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