simple

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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪmpəl/, [ˈsɪmpl̩]

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• Hyphenation: sim‧ple
• Rhymes: -ɪmpəl

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.

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.

3. Without ornamentation; plain.
4. 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.

5. 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

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) Of a group: having no normal subgroup.
   3. (botany) Not compound, but possibly lobed.
   4. 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.

   5. (zoology) Consisting of a single individual or zooid; not compound.

      a simple ascidian

   6. (mineralogy) Homogenous.
9. (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.

• (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

• (antonym(s) of “having few parts or features”): complex, compound, complicated
• (antonym(s) of “uncomplicated”): subtle

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, 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.
   • 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

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.

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.

• simpler
• simplist
• simplify

• LEMSIP, impels

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

simple (epicene, plural simples)

1. simple (uncomplicated)

• cenciellu

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈsim.plə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ˈsim.ple]

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simple m or f (masculine and feminine plural simples)

1. simple (uncomplicated)

   Synonym: senzill

2. single (not divided into parts)

• fulla simple (“simple leaf”)
• simplement (“simply”)

• símplex (“simplex”)
• simplicitat (“simplicity”)
• ximple

• “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

Inherited from Spanish simple (“simple”).

simple

1. simple

From simpla +‎ -e.

• IPA^(key): [ˈsimple]
• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -imple
• Hyphenation: sim‧ple

simple

1. simply

Inherited from Old French, borrowed from Latin simplex.

• IPA^(key): /sɛ̃pl/

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simple (plural simples)

1. 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…

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

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.

• → Romanian: simplu

simple m (plural simples)

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

• “simple”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• emplis

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

simple m or f (plural simples)

1. simple

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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

simple

1. vocative masculine singular of simplus

simple

1. Alternative form of symple

simple

1. Alternative form of symple

simple

1. definite singular of simpel
2. plural of simpel

simple

1. definite singular of simpel
2. plural of simpel

• sinple

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

simple m (oblique and nominative feminine singular simple)

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

• French: simple
  • → Romanian: simplu
• → Middle English: symple, simple
  • Scots: semple
  • English: simple

• IPA^(key): [ˈsim.ple]

simple

1. feminine/neuter plural nominative/accusative of simplu

Borrowed from Latin simplex.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsimple/ [ˈsĩm.ple]

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• Rhymes: -imple
• Syllabification: sim‧ple

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

• 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”).

• > Chavacano: simple (inherited)

simple m or f by sense (plural simples)

1. simpleton, fool

simple m (plural simples)

1. (pharmacology) simple

• más simple que el mecanismo de un botijo

• “simple”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

simple

1. definite natural masculine singular of simpel

• simpel

Borrowed from Spanish simple, from Latin simplex.

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

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, →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.‎, 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

• “simple”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018