Etymologically
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include

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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
  • 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