symple

Middle English edit

Borrowed from Old French simple, from Latin simplex (“single; singular”).

symple (plural and weak singular symple, comparative sympler, superlative symplest)

virtuous, godly, without sin:
1. guiltless, blameless
  - c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Matheu 10:16, page 4v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:
    lo I ſende ȝou as ſcheep in þe myddil of wolues / þerfoꝛ be ȝe ſliȝ as ſerpentis .· and ſymple as dowues
    So I'm sending you out like sheep in amongst wolves, so be shrewd like snakes and harmless like doves.
2. humble, unassuming, mild
simple, spartan, perfunctory, regular
1. uncompounded, simplex, singular; composed of one part.
2. (law, philosophy) Without extra conditions; unconditioned.
3. (rare) transparent, apparent
poor, miserable, needy
non-noble, popular, peasantly
dumb, unlearned, stupid
unimportant, insignificant:
1. meager, powerless, lacking
2. cheap, inexpensive; of little value.
dour, depressed, unhappy

“simple, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-7.

symple (plural symplez)

A pauper or peasant.
That which is uncompounded, simplex, singular; composed of one part.
An individual who is virtuous, godly, or without sin:
1. (rare) One who is guiltless, or blameless.
2. (rare) One who is humble, unassuming, or mild.
(rare) That which is unimportant, insignificant or meager.
(law, rare) A document without extra complications or conditions.

“simple, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-7.