simple

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English

Etymology

From Middle English symple, simple, from Old French and French simple, from Latin simplex (“simple”, literally “onefold”) (as opposed to duplex (“double”, literally “twofold”)), from semel (“the same”) + plicō (“I fold”). See same and fold. Compare single, singular, simultaneous, etc.

Partially displaced native English onefold.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɪmpəl/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪmpəl
  • Hyphenation: sim‧ple

Adjective

simple (comparative simpler or more simple, superlative simplest or most simple)

  1. Uncomplicated; taken by itself, with nothing added.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      “[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic? […]”
    • 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press →ISBN, page 167,
      There is no simple way to define precisely a complex arrangement of parts, however homely the object may appear to be.
  2. Without ornamentation; plain.
  3. Free from duplicity; guileless, innocent, straightforward.
  4. Undistinguished in social condition; of no special rank.
    Antonym: gentle
  5. (now rare) Trivial; insignificant.
    • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X:
      ‘That was a symple cause,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘for to sle a good knyght for seyynge well by his maystir.’
  6. (now colloquial, euphemistic) Feeble-minded; foolish.
  7. (heading, technical) Structurally uncomplicated.
    1. (chemistry, pharmacology) Consisting of one single substance; uncompounded.
    2. (mathematics) Of a group: having no normal subgroup.
    3. (botany) Not compound, but possibly lobed.
    4. (of a steam engine) Using steam only once in its cylinders, in contrast to a compound engine, where steam is used more than once in high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders.
      • 1959, Steam's Finest Hour, edited by David P. Morgan, Kalmbach Publishing Co., page 6:
        Chesapeake & Ohio turned to simple articulateds, for instance, simply because its Alleghany tunnels would not accommodate the low-pressure forward cylinders of larger compounds.
    5. (zoology) Consisting of a single individual or zooid; not compound.
      a simple ascidian
    6. (mineralogy) Homogenous.
  8. (obsolete) Mere; not other than; being only.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

simple (plural simples)

  1. (pharmacology) A herbal preparation made from one plant, as opposed to something made from more than one plant.
    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 37, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
      I know there are some simples, which in operation are moistening and some drying.
    • a. 1700 (date written), William Temple, “Of Health and Long-life”, in Miscellanea. The Third Part. […], London: […] Jonathan Swift, […] Benjamin Tooke, […], published 1701, →OCLC, pages 183–184:
      [W]hat Virtue there is in this Remedy lies in the naked Simple it ſelf, as it comes over from the Indies, and in the Choice of that which is leaſt dried, or periſhed by the Voyage.
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
      The first fellow that picked an herb to cure himself had a bit of pluck. Simples. Want to be careful.
    • 2003, Dolores Stewart Riccio, Charmed Circle, Kensington Books (→ISBN), page 12:
      The venerable carryall, formerly brimming with all manner of esoteric pamphlets and witch's simples, now overflowed with a cascade of soft toys, juice bottles, tissues, linen books for infants, […]
  2. (obsolete, by extension) A physician.
  3. (logic) A simple or atomic proposition.
  4. (obsolete) Something not mixed or compounded.
  5. (weaving) A drawloom.
  6. (weaving) Part of the apparatus for raising the heddles of a drawloom.
  7. (Roman Catholicism) A feast which is not a double or a semidouble.

Translations

Verb

simple (third-person singular simple present simples, present participle simpling, simple past and past participle simpled)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, archaic) To gather simples, i.e. medicinal herbs.

Derived terms

Anagrams

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

Adjective

simple (epicene, plural simples)

  1. simple (uncomplicated)

Synonyms

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

Adjective

simple m or f (masculine and feminine plural simples)

  1. simple (uncomplicated)
    Synonym: senzill
  2. single (not divided into parts)

Derived terms

Further reading

Chavacano

Etymology

From Spanish simple (“simple”).

Adjective

simple

  1. simple

Esperanto

Etymology

From simpla +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

Adverb

simple

  1. simply

French

Etymology

From Old French, borrowed from Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

Adjective

French numbers (edit)
10
1 2  →  10  → 
    Cardinal: un
    Ordinal: premier
    Ordinal abbreviation: 1er
    Multiplier: simple
    Fractional: entier
French Wikipedia article on 1

simple (plural simples)

  1. single (multiplier)
    comptabilité en partie simple et double
    single-entry and double-entry bookkeping
    passer du simple au double, du simple au triple...
    to double, triple...
  2. simple
    Un homme simple
    A simple man
  3. one-way
    Un billet simple
    A one-way ticket
  4. mere
    Un simple soldat
    A mere soldier

Usage notes

The second and third meanings are taken when the adjective is placed after the noun. The fourth meaning is taken when it is located before the noun.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Romanian: simplu

Noun

simple m (plural simples)

  1. one-way ticket
  2. (baseball) single

Further reading

Anagrams

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin simplex. Displaced Old Galician-Portuguese simplez.

Adjective

simple m or f (plural simples)

  1. simple

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

simple

  1. inflection of simpel:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Latin

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) simple

  1. vocative masculine singular of simplus

Middle English

Adjective

simple

  1. Alternative form of symple

Noun

simple

  1. Alternative form of symple

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

simple

  1. definite singular of simpel
  2. plural of simpel

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

simple

  1. definite singular of simpel
  2. plural of simpel

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

Adjective

simple m (oblique and nominative feminine singular simple)

  1. innocent
  2. mere; simple
  3. honest; without pretense
  4. peasant, pauper (attributive)

Descendants

Romanian

Pronunciation

Adjective

simple

  1. feminine/neuter plural nominative/accusative of simplu

Spanish

Spanish numbers (edit)
10
1 2  →  10  → 
    Cardinal: uno
    Apocopated cardinal: un
    Ordinal: primero
    Apocopated ordinal: primer
    Ordinal abbreviation: 1.º
    Multiplier: simple
    Distributive: sendos
Spanish Wikipedia article on 1

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsimple/ [ˈsĩm.ple]
  • Audio (Colombia):(file)

Adjective

simple m or f (masculine and feminine plural simples)

  1. simple (uncomplicated)
    Synonym: sencillo
    Antonym: complejo
  2. (before the noun) mere, ordinary
    Synonym: mero
    Soy un simple pescador. ― I'm just a fisherman.
  3. simple, single (not divided into parts)
    Antonym: compuesto
  4. simple-minded, stupid
  5. insipid, flavorless
    Synonym: soso
  6. (grammar) simple

Usage notes

A way to think of the difference between simple and sencillo, which both mean "simple" in English, is that the antonym of simple is complejo (“complex”), whereas the antonym of sencillo is complicado (“complicated”).

Derived terms

Descendants

Noun

simple m or f (plural simples)

  1. simpleton, fool
  2. (pharmacology, masculine only) simple

See also

Further reading

Swedish

Adjective

simple

  1. (deprecated template usage) definite natural masculine singular of simpel

Anagrams

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish simple.

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: sim‧ple
  • IPA(key): /ˈsimple/, [ˈsim.plɛ]

Adjective

simple

  1. simple; easy to do
    Synonyms: payak, yano, liso
    • 1994, Al O. Santiago, Sining ng pagsasaling-wika: sa Filipino mula sa Ingles‎[1], →ISBN:
      Simpleng-simple rin ang aklat na ito kung ihahambing sa aklat ni Mildred Larson.
      This book is also very simple compared to the book of Mildred Larson.
    • 2002, Yaman Ng Pagkatao i Tm' 2002 Ed.‎[2], Rex Bookstore, Inc., →ISBN, page 173:
      Ang boluntaryong pagpili ng simpleng pamumuhay ay isang desisyong maaari nating maisakatuparan.
      The voluntary choice of a simple life is a decision that we can carry out.
  2. common; ordinary
    Synonyms: karaniwan, pangkaraniwan
  3. easy to understand
  4. simple; plain
    Synonym: payak
  5. (grammar) simple
    Synonym: payak

Derived terms

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