inclusion (n.)

(1) A SEMANTIC relationship which identifies the SENSE relation of HYPONYMY; e.g. to say that a car is a kind of vehicle is to say that the class of cars is included within that of vehicles.

(2) In GRAMMATICAL analysis, included is mainly used to refer to a LINGUISTIC FORM which occurs as a CONSTITUENT of a CONSTRUCTION: it is in the ‘included position’. For example, the CLAUSE parked in the street is in the included position in the SENTENCE The car parked in the street was a Ford.

(3) With reference to PRONOUNS, inclusive (incl) is used (in contrast with EXCLUSIVE) to refer to a first-PERSON role where the speaker and addressee are both included, e.g. we = ‘me and you’ or ‘me and others and you’.

(4) In SEMANTICS, a term derived from formal logic (in contrast with EXCLUSIVE) to refer to a type of DISJUNCTION: in an inclusive interpretation, the disjunction is true if either, or both, of the propositions is true. In Either X is happening or Y is happening, an inclusive interpretation allows (‘includes’) both options.

(5) In SOCIOLINGUISTICS, and increasingly in general usage, inclusive language refers to the use of words which avoid the social stereotypes associated with particular social groups. For example, because a noun such as spokesman, though traditionally GENERIC, could be given an excluding interpretation (i.e. referring to males only), it would be replaced in an inclusive approach by such nouns as spokesperson.