Enchiridion

//ˌɛn.kaɪˈɹɪ.dɪ.ən// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A handbook or manual. archaic, uncommon

    "the Enchiridion of Erasmus"

  2. 2
    a concise reference book providing specific information about a subject or location wordnet

Example

More examples

"He [Francis Quarles] wrote long poems, almost epics for length, about Jonah, Esther, Job, Samson, and Solomon, interspersed with meditations after a quite original plan,—Shepherd's Oracles, Comedies, Romances, Fancies, and Meditations,—the quintessence of meditation, —and Enchiridions of Meditation all divine, —and what he calls his Morning Muse; besides prose works as curious as the rest."

Etymology

Either via Latin enchīridion or directly, from Ancient Greek ἐγχειρίδιον (enkheirídion, “handbook, manual”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + -ίδιον (-ídion).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.