also: ことてん
A reference work covering a wide range of topics, similar to an encyclopedia. Often used in titles like 〇〇事典.
This encyclopedia has extensive entries on history.
If there's something you don't understand, let's look it up in an encyclopedia.
The scholar spent his whole life compiling an encyclopedia.
事典 is a shorter, less formal way to refer to a reference work covering knowledge, while 百科事典 is the standard full term for a comprehensive encyclopedia.
事典 (じてん) is an encyclopedia organized by topic, while 辞典 (じてん) is a dictionary organized by word, despite sharing the same pronunciation.
事典 covers general topics and knowledge, while 字典 (じてん) is specifically a kanji character dictionary, though both are pronounced じてん.
事典 (also read じてん) is an encyclopedia explaining things/concepts, not a language dictionary like 国語辞典.
Standard kanji spelling; common in news and general use.
Rare reading; the usual reading is じてん.
Compound of 事 (thing, matter) and 典 (reference work, code). The reading じてん is the standard Sino-Japanese reading; ことてん is a rare mixed reading.