In Julia, an item like:
[ xx for x in 1:5 ]
is called a “comprehension” and results in a Vector as in:
julia> [xx for x in 1:5]
5-element Vector{Int64}:
1
4
9
16
25
Not even sure what the word “comprehension” means except for
“something that is or can be comprehended”. Maybe?
I think what was needed is a word that means
“to assemble multiple pieces into a larger item” like maybe
• conglomeration
• amalgamation
• compilation
• composition
• accumulation
“List comprehension” has been used since 1977. It’s not specific to Julia.
The word “comprehensive” means “includes lots of things”, as in “a comprehensive study of..” so the word is quite suitable.
Thanks for looking into it and providing the info. Oddly, the word “comprehension” means “understanding things” and carries no connotations of including things as
does the word comprehensive.
Seems like comprehensive and comprehension are two words like “allusion” and “illusion” – they sound similar and are spelled similarly but actually have no relation to each other. That might be what led us down this path.
comprehensive and comprehension seem to share some Latin roots. not obvious, but not unreasonable word choice.
It comes from set builder notation, which is also called ‘set comprehension’. The word comphrension indeed came from Latin, in the dictionary it says ‘to bind together, unite’. Seems like a fitting name!
According to another free dictionary the noun “comprehension” can mean:
1. the act or capacity of understanding
2. the state of including or comprising something; comprehensiveness
...
The 2nd meaning seems to be relevant here.
The word came out of the muddy waters of set theory’s birth a hundred years ago or more. Though, nowadays it’s more usual to call it “separation” or “replacement”, depending on … things.
If it makes you feel any better, you could try mentally replacing the word “comprehension” with the phrase “collected generator” everywhere. That’s exactly what comprehensions are in Julia — and the latter matches our typical English language usages much more closely.
In Latin languages (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and French at least), “comprehend” can mean both “understand” or, less frequently, “contain”. Oddly, I think in none of them “comprehension” is used with the container meaning.
(just a curiosity).
In Portuguese, the second meaning of compreensão is “the ability to contain within oneself, in one’s nature, or in a category, in a system.”
Never heard anyone using it in that context 
. We do use “compreender” in the sense of containing, but “compreensão”, honestly, never seen it.
I agree that the verb with the same origin is routinely used to also mean to include, while the noun has that meaning in more technical contexts, such as set theory.
Welcome (the OP) to the world of mathematics, where words sometimes have specialized and unintuitive meanings 
In the online Oxford, the meaning you are referring to (" the state of including or comprising something; comprehensiveness ") is marked as “archaic”
(like: thee, thou, and methinks).
COMPREHENSION
=============
“some won’t have the least comprehension of what I’m trying to do”
Similar:
understanding
ability to understand
grasp
grip
conception
apprehension
cognition
cognizance
ken
knowledge
awareness
perception
discernment
interpretation
Opposite:
ignorance
incomprehension
inclusion.
…
Methinks it might encourage the acceptance of Julia if the words made sense to those not trained in the use of archaic verbage. ((Just trying to help))
Using the term comprehension doesn’t seem to have had too severe consequences to the acceptance of Python, so I think Julia can cope.