Encyclopedist, generally a man of encyclopedic knowledge, or who conducts or contributes to an encyclopædia; specially one who has, as the French encyclopedists, an overweening, false, and illusory estimate of the moral worth and civilising power of such knowledge. See Carlyle's "Sartor," Bk. I. chap. 10, on the "Encyclopedic Head."

En*cy`clo*pe"dist (?), n. [Cf. F. encyclopédiste.] The compiler of an encyclopedia, or one who assists in such compilation; also, one whose knowledge embraces the whole range of the sciences.

The Encyclopedists, the writers of the great French encyclopedia which appeared in 1751-1772. The editors were Diderot and D'Alembert. Among the contributors were Voltaire and Rousseau.