exclusion

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English exclusioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin exclūsiō (“a shutting out”),^{[5][3][4][6][7][8]} a noun of action from exclūsus, the past participle of exclūdō (“to shut out, keep out”),^[3][6][8][7] from ex- (“out”) and claudō (“to close, shut”).^[4][9] The Middle English Dictionary gives both Latin and Old French as its source,^[2] and Barnhart allows a borrowing from Middle French exclusion beside the direct one from Latin.^[9] It belongs with exclude and close.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Elimination or prevention, and in the phrase with exclusioun of, to the exclusion of: before 1402, in a quotation that prefers the parish church "wiþ exclusioun of oþer places".^[2] Etymonline dates the word to about 1400^[4] and Barnhart to before 1402;^[9] the OED entry, not yet revised, begins in 1614.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its general sense of shutting out or leaving out, and then from the 17th century formed several set uses.^[5] The Exclusion Bill sought to bar James, Duke of York, from the succession because he was a Roman Catholic; the OED dates it to 1679, the Shorter Oxford to 1680.^[5][8] The phrase to the exclusion of is recorded from 1691.^[5] Sir Thomas Browne used it in 1646 for the laying of eggs or the bringing forth of young, and for the discharge of excrement, a use that died out by 1664.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as the act of shutting out or denying admission, quoting Bacon.^[10] Later senses are a pupil's expulsion or suspension from school (1818) and an item not covered by an insurance policy (1920).^[5] Merriam-Webster records the specific sense of refusal of entry into a country by immigration authorities.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1402 – elimination, and the phrase with exclusioun of, to the exclusion of.^[2][9]
• 1614 – shutting out, debarring, omitting (first OED date).^[5]
• 1646 – the laying of eggs, bringing forth of young.^[5]
• 1679 – the Exclusion Bill.^[5]
• 1691 – to the exclusion of.^[5]
• 1818 – the expulsion or suspension of a pupil.^[5]
• 1920 – an item not covered by an insurance policy.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of keeping someone or something out, or the state of being kept out: the exclusion of women from the club.^[11][7][5]
2. Refusal of entry into a country by the immigration authorities.^[7]
3. Something left out, especially a risk not covered by an insurance policy or contract.^[5][8]
4. The expulsion or suspension of a pupil from a school.^[5]
5. (logic) An exclusive disjunction.^[7]
6. to the exclusion of: so as to leave out: He studied chemistry to the exclusion of everything else.^[5][8]

Word family

• exclusionary
• exclusionism
• exclusionist
• nonexclusion
• self-exclusion
• Pauli exclusion principle

Related words

• exclude
• exclusive
• include
• conclude
• seclude
• preclude
• recluse
• close

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins