Inclusive

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈkluːsɪv/

Definitions

1. Welcoming and accommodating people of all backgrounds, identities, and circumstances without exception or exclusion
2. Covering or containing all necessary items, elements, or services within a single package or price without additional charges
3. Including all relevant people or things without leaving anyone or anything out

Etymology: The adjective traces back to the Latin verb "includere", literally "to shut in" or "to enclose", built from "in-" plus "claudere", "to close". Its past participle "inclusus" meant "shut up" or "enclosed", and a Medieval Latin adjective "inclusivus" was formed from it with the suffix "-ivus", giving the sense of something that shuts in or contains. That meaning passed through Middle French "inclusif" into English. The modern sense, welcoming everyone without exception, reverses the direction of the original idea. A word built on the notion of enclosing and containing now describes the opposite of exclusion, where the emphasis falls on taking everyone in rather than keeping anyone out. The shift from physical enclosure to social openness happened gradually, so the modern sense is a reversal of perspective rather than a reversal of the root's meaning.

Synonyms: comprehensive, embracing, all-encompassing, broad, universal

Antonyms: exclusive, restrictive, limited, narrow, partial