Exclude | Vocabulary | Khan Academy

Hey wordsmiths! I would never dare leave you feeling left out, so I want to warn you that the word we're discussing in this video is "exclude." Exclude is a verb; it means to keep someone or something out, to prevent access. It can have a bad connotation or feeling, like keeping people from voting, excluding them from having a vote. And it can also have a neutral connotation or feeling, like excluding coffee from your diet.

You'll also see it as "exclusion," which is the noun form. But for now, let's talk about its derivation. Where does this word come from? We got "X," we got "clude." What's going on here? So, we have two pieces of Latin here: "ex" means out, as in extend or expel. Those two words mean to stretch out or to drive out, and then "clude" comes from the Latin "claudere," which means to close. You sometimes see this root pop up as "clu" too. So when you are excluded from something, you've been closed out; a door has been shut, and you're on the wrong side of it.

But for now, let's open the door to some similar words. I'll put on some music, and you'll take that time to come up with a few words that also use "clude," or "clu," or "ex." Ready? Let’s go!

Here are some I thought up: "exclusive," which means special or limited, related to exclude, right? An exclusive club is very picky about who gets in. Some people are going to be excluded from or kept out of the club. Or an exclusive offer is limited time only; act now!

"To conclude," to end something; literally to "clothe" together, like drawing the curtains at a theater. Or "secluded," meaning out of the way or private, from Latin "se" meaning apart and "claudere," right? So literally, to be closed off apart from everything.

Let's use exclude in some sentences: Wanda didn't mean to exclude Bonnie; she really did honestly forget to invite her to the clam bake. Look at Bonnie being so sad, dreaming of clams and potatoes and corn. Nobody's ever invited me to a clam bake, which is a New England beach party. They do what it sounds like; they bake clams!

Okay, let's try it now in the noun form. Continuing the theme strangely enough of corn, Nural loved corn on the cob to the exclusion of all other food. So that means he doesn't eat anything but corn; he excludes other foods, which is not great, my dudes. It's important to eat a balanced diet, wordsmiths. A good mix of leafy greens and proteins, and the USDA recommended two to three new words a day! See, it's right here on the My Plate graphic. I didn't just put that there.

I kid, I kid! Obviously, but words are good for you. Okay, I'll see you in the next one. You can learn anything! Dave it out.