include

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈkluːd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English includen, borrowed from Latin inclūdere (“to shut in, enclose, imprison, insert”),^[2][3][4] formed from in- (“in”) and claudere (“to shut”).^[2][3][4] Klein notes the regular change of the Latin vowel in such compounds, claudere becoming -clūdere.^[5] It is related to close, enclose, conclude, exclude and seclude.^[2][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To conceal or hide: 1402;^[2] Etymonline gives “to shut in, enclose, imprison” from the early 15th century,^[3] and the OED about 1420.^[6]

Semantic evolution

“To comprise, contain as a part” is recorded before 1420, in Lydgate's Troy Book,^[2] or about 1430.^[6] To contain as a subordinate element is from 1526,^[6] and to place in a class or category from 1560.^[6] The sense “to shut in” is now obsolete except in the passive.^[7] Inclusion is from 1600.^[2] The joke include me out, attributed to Samuel Goldwyn, is attested from 1937.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1402 – to conceal.^[2]
• before 1420 – to comprise (Lydgate).^[2]
• c. 1420 – to shut in.^[6]
• 1526 – to contain as a subordinate element.^[6]
• 1560 – to place in a category.^[6]
• 1600 – inclusion.^[2]
• 1937 – include me out.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To take in as a part or member.
2. To contain as a secondary element.
3. To put into a group, class or total.
4. (obsolete) To shut in; to enclose.

Word family

• includable
• preinclude
• reinclude

Related words

• inclusion
• inclusive
• close
• enclose
• conclude
• exclude
• seclude
• preclude

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that some writers insist that include introduce only a partial list, using comprise or consist of for a full one,^[8] and compares include with comprise, comprehend, embrace and involve.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin