Etymologically
Log in

excludo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɛkˈskɫuː.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ekˈskluː.do][1]

Forms

exclūdō (present infinitive exclūdere, perfect active exclūsī, supine exclūsum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from ex- and claudō “to shut”.[2][1][3] Terence has the shortened perfect ⟨exclusti⟩ for ⟨exclusisti⟩, and Varro the spelling ⟨escl-⟩.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation for excluding from an action is from Plautus, and Cato uses it of uncovering.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to shut out, deny entry, as in Terence and as the people of Gades shut the Carthaginians out of their walls, to cut off a place, and to debar or hinder from an action.[2][4][6] It meant to rule out a course of action, to leave out or omit, as in Varro, and to bring out of a container, and Cicero uses it of hatching from an egg.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to reject, exclude, drive away, keep out.[7] Its feminine participle gave Late Latin exclūsa “a barrier shutting out water”, the source of Old French escluse and English sluice, and the verb itself gave English exclude in the mid-14th century.[8] It survives in Italian schiudere “to open”, and French éclore “to hatch” comes from a variant *exclaudere.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of preventing.[2][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of uncovering.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of shutting out.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of hatching.[2][5]
  • mid-14th century – English exclude is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To shut out, keep out, deny entry to.[2][4]
  2. To cut off, separate.[2]
  3. To exclude, debar, hinder, prevent; to rule out.[2]
  4. To leave out, omit.[2]
  5. To bring out, uncover; to hatch.[2]

Word family

  • exclūsiō
  • exclusor
  • exclūsus
  • circumclūdō
  • claudō
  • conclūdō
  • disclūdō
  • inclūdō
  • interclūdō
  • occlūdō
  • praeclūdō
  • rēclūdō
  • sēclūdō
  • English exclude
  • English sluice

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com