[go: up one dir, main page]
Wiktionary

simple

English

edit

Etymology

edit

Inherited 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

Adjective

edit

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

  1. 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.
    • 2006, M. Eto et al., “Solitons in Supersymmetric Gauge Theories”, in Particles, Strings and Cosmology‎[1], →ISBN, page 266:
      The simplest soliton is the domain wall with co-dimension one, and the next simplest is the vortex with co-dimension two, whereas the co-dimension three (four) soliton is called monopole (instanton).
  2. 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.
    • 2021, Luis Atencio, The Joy of JavaScript, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 104:
      Point-free coding is a byproduct of adopting declarative programming. You can use point-free coding without FP. But because point-free is all about improving the readability of code at a glance and making it simpler to parse, having the guarantees imposed by FP furthers this cause.
  3. Without ornamentation; plain.
  4. Free from duplicity; guileless, innocent, straightforward.
  5. Undistinguished in social condition; of no special rank.
    Antonym: gentle
  6. (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.’
  7. (now colloquial, euphemistic) Feeble-minded; foolish.
  8. (heading, technical) Structurally uncomplicated.
    1. (chemistry, pharmacology) Consisting of one single substance; uncompounded.
    2. (mathematics, algebra, of an algebraic structure) Indecomposable (via direct sums): such that the kernel of any homomorphism (with domain the object in question) either contains only a single element or contains the whole structure. Thus a group is simple if it has no nontrivial proper normal subgroups; a ring is simple if it contains no nontrivial two-sided ideals; a module is simple if it contains no nontrivial proper submodules; etc.
    3. (algebra, of a semigroup) Having no nontrivial ideals.
    4. (mathematics, real analysis, measure theory, of a real-valued function) Equal to a finite linear combination of indicator functions on measurable sets.
    5. (botany) Not compound, but possibly lobed.
    6. 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.
    7. (zoology) Consisting of a single individual or zooid; not compound.
      a simple ascidian
    8. (mineralogy) Homogenous.
  9. (obsolete) Mere; not other than; being only.

Synonyms

edit

Antonyms

edit

Derived terms

edit

Translations

edit

Noun

edit

simple (plural simples)

  1. (pharmacology) A herbal preparation made from one plant, as opposed to something made from more than one plant.
  2. (obsolete, by extension) A physician.
  3. (logic) A simple or atomic proposition.
    • 2021 September 14, Michael David Stevens, 10:41 from the start, in Do Chairs Exist?‎[2]:
      Peter van Inwagen, for example, believes that there are no ordinary objects, no chairs or shirts or shoes. Right here there are just some simples — atoms or whatever — arranged shoe-wise.
  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

edit

Verb

edit

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

edit

Anagrams

edit

Asturian

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

edit

simple (epicene, plural simples)

  1. simple (uncomplicated)
    Synonym: cenciellu

Bikol Central

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Spanish simple.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

edit

símple (intensified simplehon, Basahan spelling ᜐᜒᜋ᜔ᜉ᜔ᜎᜒ)

  1. simple, plain
  2. unadorned
  3. easy
    Synonyms: madali, pasil

Derived terms

edit
edit

Catalan

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

simple m or f (masculine and feminine plural simples)

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

Derived terms

edit
edit

Further reading

edit

Chavacano

edit

Etymology

edit

Inherited from Spanish simple (“simple”).

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

edit

simple

  1. simple

Esperanto

edit

Etymology

edit

From simpla +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

edit

Adverb

edit

simple

  1. simply

French

edit

Etymology

edit

Inherited from Old French, borrowed from Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit
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
    comptabilité en partie simple ― single-entry bookkeeping
  2. simple, straightforward, easy
    Near-synonym: facile
    Antonyms: complexe, compliqué
    simple comme bonjour ― easy as pie
  3. simple, plain, unsophisticated
    un homme simple ― a simple man
  4. (grammar) synthetic; non analytic
    Coordinate terms: composé, antérieur
    futur simple ― simple future
    passé simple ― past historic tense (literally, “simple past”)
  5. (grammar)
    Coordinate term: complexe
    phrase simple ― simple sentence
  6. (chemistry) simple, uncompounded
    Coordinate term: composé
    corps simple ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  7. one-way
    un aller simple ― a one-way ticket
    un billet simple ― a one-way ticket
  8. mere
    un simple soldat ― a mere soldier

Derived terms

edit

Derived terms

edit

Descendants

edit
  • → Romanian: simplu

Noun

edit

simple m (plural simples)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
    passer du simple au double ― to double
    passer du simple au triple ― to triple
  2. (baseball) single

Further reading

edit

Anagrams

edit

Galician

edit

Etymology

edit

Learned borrowing from Latin simplex. Displaced Old Galician-Portuguese simplez.

Adjective

edit

simple m or f (plural simples)

  1. simple

German

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

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

edit

Adjective

edit

simple

  1. vocative masculine singular of simplus

Middle English

edit

Adjective

edit

simple

  1. Alternative form of symple

Noun

edit

simple

  1. Alternative form of symple

Norwegian Bokmål

edit

Adjective

edit

simple

  1. definite singular of simpel
  2. plural of simpel

Norwegian Nynorsk

edit

Adjective

edit

simple

  1. definite singular of simpel
  2. plural of simpel

Old French

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

Adjective

edit

simple m (oblique and nominative feminine singular simple)

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

Descendants

edit

Romanian

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

simple

  1. feminine/neuter plural nominative/accusative of simplu

Spanish

edit
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

edit

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

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

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)

  1. simpleton, fool
    Synonym: bobo

Noun

edit

simple m (plural simples)

  1. (pharmacology) simple

See also

edit

Further reading

edit


Swedish

edit

Adjective

edit

simple

  1. definite natural masculine singular of simpel

Anagrams

edit

Tagalog

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Spanish simple, from Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

simple (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜋ᜔ᜉ᜔ᜎᜒ)

  1. simple; easy to do
    Synonyms: payak, yano, liso
    • 1994, Al O. Santiago, Sining ng pagsasaling-wika: sa Filipino mula sa Ingles‎[3], →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.‎[4], 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

edit
edit

Further reading

edit
  • “simple”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=simple&oldid=82492442"