Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Comprehensive

Comprehensive , adjective

[Compare French compréhensif.]

1.
Including much; comprising many things; having a wide scope or a full view.
A very comprehensive definition. — Bentley
Large and comprehensive idea. — Channing
2.
Having the power to comprehend or understand many things.
His comprehensive head. — Pope
3.
(Zoology) Possessing peculiarities that are characteristic of several diverse groups.

The term is applied chiefly to early fossil groups which have a combination of structures that appear in more fully developed or specialized forms in later groups. Synthetic, as used by Agassiz, is nearly synonymous.