Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Comprehensive \Com`pre*hen"sive\, a. [Cf. F. compr['e]hensif.]
   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. (Zo["o]l.) Possessing peculiarities that are
      characteristic of several diverse groups.

   Note: 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.

   Syn: Extensive; wide; large; full; compendious.

Source : WordNet®

comprehensive
     adj 1: including all or everything; "comprehensive coverage"; "a
            comprehensive history of the revolution"; "a
            comprehensive survey"; "a comprehensive education"
            [ant: {noncomprehensive}]
     2: broad in scope; "a comprehensive survey of world affairs"
     3: being the most comprehensive of its class; "an unabridged
        dictionary"

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

COMPREHENSIVE
     
        An early system on {MIT}'s {Whirlwind}.
     
        [Listed in CACM 2(5):16, May 1959].
     
        (2002-06-03)