Includes

Includes is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb include. It denotes that something is part of a group, a component of a set, or that a list contains more items than those explicitly named. In ordinary use, sentences such as “The package includes a charger” signal that the charger is among the items covered. In legal or policy texts, “includes” is often paired with qualifiers to indicate non-exhaustive scope, meaning other items may also be covered.

In language and communication, includes helps extend coverage beyond a strictly enumerated list, while still allowing readers to infer additional elements.

In computing, include refers to inserting content from one file into another. In C and C++, #include is a preprocessor directive that adds the contents of a header or source file into a program during preprocessing. Other languages provide include or import mechanisms, such as PHP’s include function, server-side includes in web servers, or template engines that reuse fragments of markup.

In mathematics and information organization, A includes B can express that B is contained within A (i.e., B is a subset of A), though modern terminology more often uses subset and superset. In databases and data schemas, includes may describe fields, components, or records that are encompassed by a larger structure.

Etymology traces includes to Latin includere, meaning to shut in or enclose.