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inclusivus

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Forms

inclūsīvus (feminine inclūsīva, neuter inclūsīvum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin inclūdō (“to shut in, enclose”),[1][3][4] formed on ⟨inclūs-⟩, the stem of its past participle, with the suffix -īvus.[4][3] The DMLBS marks it as a Medieval Latin word.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first of the DMLBS's quotations is from Daniel of Morley, for whom the whole space from the circle of the moon to the firmament, counted inclusively, is what the Arabs call heaven.[2] The first dated one is in Bracton's treatise on English law, where the third heir is to be counted in.[2][1]

Semantic evolution

In British legal writing it marked limits that are counted in: Fleta reckons “up to the third person inclusive”.[2] A record of 1326 from St Davids uses it as a masculine noun for the sluices of mills.[2] In Polish sources a terminus inclūsīvus was a final, irrevocable deadline, such as the last of three terms for paying a debt,[3] and in logic it meant “containing, comprising”.[3] Köbler glosses it “inclusive, including”.[1]

English took inclusive from it as an adverb in the mid-15th century and as an adjective about 1600.[4]

Timeline

  • 1239–1256 – Bracton counts the third heir inclusively.[2][1]
  • c. 1290 – Fleta reckons up to the third person inclusive.[2][1]
  • 1326 – A record from St Davids uses it as a noun for the sluices of mills.[2]
  • mid-14th century – A Polish statute sets a terminus inclūsīvus for paying debts.[3]
  • mid-15th century – English borrows inclusive as an adverb.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Medieval Latin) Included within stated limits, inclusive.[2][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin, law, of a term) Final, closing;[3] terminus inclūsīvus: a last, irrevocable deadline.[3]
  3. (Medieval Latin, logic) Containing, comprising.[3]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A sluice (of a mill).[2]

Usage notes

The adverb inclūsīvē, “inclusively”, is frequent in Polish charters from 1326 on, mostly of spans of time counted with their end points.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com