To include or contain completely within scope; to surround or encircle.
From en- 'in' + compass (from Old French compasser 'to measure'). Originally meant 'to encircle with a compass' in the 14th century, then extended metaphorically to mean 'include comprehensively' by the 16th century.
The word retains its geometric origins - when we say a theory 'encompasses' many ideas, we're metaphorically drawing a circle around them, just like using a compass! This spatial metaphor for intellectual inclusion shows how we think about knowledge in terms of containers and boundaries.
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