simple
English edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
- IPA(key): /ˈsɪmpəl/, [ˈsɪmpl̩]
Audio (RP) (file) Audio (GA) (file) - Hyphenation: sim‧ple
- Rhymes: -ɪmpəl
Adjective edit
simple (comparative simpler or more simple, superlative simplest or most simple)
- Uncomplicated; lacking complexity; 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?
- 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 253:
- Primitive people, colossally ignorant of the cause of disease and of curative processes, attributed to supernatural agencies any causes and effects for which their simple minds could give no natural explanations.
- Easy; not difficult.
- 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.
- Without ornamentation; plain.
- Free from duplicity; guileless, innocent, straightforward.
- 1605, Iohn Marston [i.e., John Marston], The Dutch Courtezan. […], London: […] T[homas] P[urfoot] for Iohn Hodgets, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
- Full many fine men go upon my score, as simple as I stand here, and I trust them.
- 1812, Lord Byron, “Canto I”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: Printed for John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, stanza XXXVI:
- Must thou trust Tradition's simple tongue?
- 1838 July 24, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Literary Ethics. An Oration Delivered before the Literary Societies of Dartmouth College, July 24, 1838”, in J[ames] E[lliot] Cabot, editor, Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (Emerson’s Complete Works; I), Riverside edition, London: The Waverley Book Company, published 1883, →OCLC, page 160:
- Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great. The vision of genius comes by renouncing the too officious activity of the understanding, and giving leave and amplest privilege to the spontaneous sentiment.
- Undistinguished in social condition; of no special rank.
- 1995 April 24, Improbable Cause (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), season 3, number 20 (Science Fiction), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:
- Garak: Who would want to kill me, a simple tailor? / Odo: A simple tailor? A simple tailor who used to be an agent of the Obsidian Order!
- Antonym: gentle
- (archaic) Trivial; insignificant.
- 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum LV”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book X (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
- ‘That was a symple cause,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘for to sle a good knyght for seyynge well by his maystir.’
- ‘That was a simple cause,’ said Sir Tristram, ‘for to slay a good knight for to say well by his master.’
- (now colloquial, euphemistic) Feeble-minded; foolish.
- (heading, technical) Structurally uncomplicated.
- (chemistry, pharmacology) Consisting of one single substance; uncompounded.
- (mathematics) Of a group: having no normal subgroup.
- (botany) Not compound, but possibly lobed.
- 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. (of a steam engine)
- 1959, David P. Morgan, editor, Steam's Finest Hour, 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.
- (zoology) Consisting of a single individual or zooid; not compound.
- a simple ascidian
- (mineralogy) Homogenous.
- (obsolete) Mere; not other than; being only.
- c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- A medicine […] whose simple touch / Is powerful to araise King Pepin.
Synonyms edit
- (consisting of a single part or aspect): onefold
- (having few parts or features): basic, plain, uncomplex, uncomplicated
- See also Thesaurus:easy and Thesaurus:bare-bones
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "having few parts or features"): complex, compound, complicated
- (antonym(s) of "uncomplicated"): subtle
Derived terms edit
- central simple algebra
- fee simple
- future simple
- gentle and simple
- gentle nor simple
- gentle or simple
- oversimple
- past simple
- plain and simple
- present simple
- pure and simple
- simple algebra
- simple as
- simple as a pimple
- simple as kiss your hand
- simple beam
- simple connectedness
- simple connectivity
- simple continued fraction
- simple contract
- simple dislocation
- simple engine
- simple English
- simple equation
- simple extension
- simple eye
- simple fraction
- simple fracture
- simple fruit
- simple function
- simple future
- simple group
- simple harmonic motion
- simplehead
- simple-hearted
- simple hyperopia
- simple interest
- simple knot
- simple leaf
- simple-lifeish
- simple linear regression
- simple living
- simple machine
- simple majority
- simple mastectomy
- simple meter
- simple microscope
- simple-minded
- simple myopia
- simpleness
- simple past
- simple pendulum
- simple pistil
- simple pole
- simple present
- simple protein
- simple quadruple time
- simple regression
- simple ring
- simple root
- simple sentence
- Simple Simon
- simpless
- simple sugar
- simple syrup
- simple tense
- simple time
- simpleton
- simple trust
- simplex
- simplicity
- simply
- single
Translations edit
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Noun edit
simple (plural simples)
- (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, 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, […]
- (obsolete, by extension) A physician.
- (logic) A simple or atomic proposition.
- (obsolete) Something not mixed or compounded.
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- But it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects, and indeed the sundry contemplation of my travels
- (weaving) A drawloom.
- (weaving) Part of the apparatus for raising the heddles of a drawloom.
- (Roman Catholicism) A feast which is not a double or a semidouble.
Translations edit
Verb edit
simple (third-person singular simple present simples, present participle simpling, simple past and past participle simpled)
- (transitive, intransitive, archaic) To gather simples, i.e. medicinal herbs.
Derived terms edit
Anagrams edit
Asturian edit
Etymology edit
Adjective edit
simple (epicene, plural simples)
- simple (uncomplicated)
Synonyms edit
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
simple m or f (masculine and feminine plural simples)
Derived terms edit
- fulla simple (“simple leaf”)
- simplement (“simply”)
Related terms edit
- símplex (“simplex”)
- simplicitat (“simplicity”)
- ximple
Further reading edit
- “simple” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “simple” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
- “simple”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
Chavacano edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Spanish simple (“simple”).
Adjective edit
simple
Esperanto edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
simple
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old French, borrowed from Latin simplex.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
10 | ||||
1 | 2 → | 10 → | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinal: un Ordinal: premier Ordinal abbreviation: 1er Multiplier: simple Fractional: entier | ||||
French Wikipedia article on 1 |
simple (plural simples)
- single (multiplier)
- comptabilité en partie simple et double
- single-entry and double-entry bookkeeping
- passer du simple au double, du simple au triple…
- to double, triple…
- simple
- Un homme simple ― A simple man
- one-way
- Un billet simple ― A one-way ticket
- mere
- Un simple soldat ― A mere soldier
Usage notes edit
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 edit
Descendants edit
- → Romanian: simplu
Noun edit
simple m (plural simples)
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “simple”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams edit
Galician edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin simplex. Displaced Old Galician-Portuguese simplez.
Adjective edit
simple m or f (plural simples)
German edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Adjective edit
simple
- inflection of simpel:
Latin edit
Adjective edit
simple
Middle English edit
Adjective edit
simple
- Alternative form of symple
Noun edit
simple
- Alternative form of symple
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Adjective edit
simple
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Adjective edit
simple
Old French edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Adjective edit
simple m (oblique and nominative feminine singular simple)
Descendants edit
Romanian edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
simple
Spanish 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 edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
simple m or f (masculine and feminine plural simples)
- simple (uncomplicated)
- (before the noun) mere, ordinary
- Synonym: mero
- Soy un simple pescador. ― I'm just a fisherman.
- simple, single (not divided into parts)
- Antonym: compuesto
- simple-minded, stupid
- insipid, flavorless
- Synonym: soso
- (grammar) simple
Usage notes edit
- 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 edit
Descendants edit
- > Chavacano: simple (inherited)
Noun edit
simple m or f by sense (plural simples)
Noun edit
simple m (plural simples)
See also edit
Further reading edit
- “simple”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish edit
Adjective edit
simple
Anagrams edit
Tagalog edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Spanish simple, from Latin simplex.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
simple (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜋ᜔ᜉ᜔ᜎᜒ)
- simple; easy to do
- common; ordinary
- Synonyms: karaniwan, pangkaraniwan
- easy to understand
- simple; plain
- Synonym: payak
- (grammar) simple
- Synonym: payak
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “simple”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018