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Simple Definition

Contents

English

Etymology

< Middle English simple < Old French and French simple < Latin simplex (“simple, literally 'onefold', as opposed to duplex, twofold, double”) < sim- (“the same”) + plicare (“to fold”): see same and fold. Compare single, singular, simultaneous, etc.

Pronunciation

Adjective

simple (comparative simpler, superlative simplest)

  1. Free from duplicity; guileless, innocent, straightforward.
  2. Without ornamentation; plain.
  3. Undistinguished in social condition; of no special rank.
  4. (now rare) Trivial; insignificant.
    • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book X:
      ‘That was a symple cause,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘for to sle a good knyght for seyynge well by his maystir.’
  5. Uncomplicated; taken by itself, with nothing added, pure.
    • 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-78512-X), page 167,
      There is no simple way to define precisely a complex arrangement of parts, however homely the object may appear to be.
  6. (now colloquial) Feeble-minded; foolish.
  7. Consisting of one single substance; uncompounded.
  8. (mathematics) Of a group: having no normal subgroup.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Derived terms

Noun

simple (plural simples)

  1. (medicine) A preparation made from one plant, as opposed to something made from more than one plant.
  2. (logic) A simple or atomic proposition

Translations

preparation from one plant

Verb

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

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

Derived terms

Statistics

Anagrams

Anglo-Norman

Alternative forms

Etymology

Latin simplex

Adjective

simple m. and f. (plural simples)

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

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin simplex.

Pronunciation

Adjective

simple m. and f. (plural simples)

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

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Esperanto

Etymology

simpl- + -e

Pronunciation

Adverb

simple

  1. simply

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

simple (epicene, plural simples)

  1. simple
  2. one-way
    Un billet simple.
    A one-way ticket.

Noun

simple m. (plural simples)

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

Related terms

Anagrams

Galician

Adjective

simple m. and f. (plural simples)

  1. simple

Latin

Adjective

simple

  1. vocative masculine singular of simplus

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Latin simplex

Adjective

simple m. and f. (plural simples)

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

Romanian

Pronunciation

Adjective

simple

  1. feminine plural nominative form of simplu
  2. feminine plural accusative form of simplu
  3. neuter plural nominative form of simplu
  4. neuter plural accusative form of simplu

Spanish

Adjective

simple m. and f. (plural simples)

  1. simple
  2. mere, uncomplicated, easy
  3. single
  4. insipid

Noun

simple m. and f. (plural simples)

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

Swedish

Adjective

simple

  1. absolute definite natural masculine form of simpel.

 

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More Definition Results for "Simple"
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'Simple' Images
'Simple' Information

For the version of Wikipedia that uses simple English, see Wikipedia:Simple English Wikipedia. Look up simple in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Simple may refer to: In technology:
  • SIMPLE, an instant messaging protocol
  • SiMPLE, a programming development system
  • SIMPLE algorithm, a widely used numerical procedure
  • Simple (Java), a XML framework for the programming language Java
  • Simple, a steam engine that expands steam only once, as opposed to a compound engine that expands it more than once
In other uses:

See also

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
from: Wikipedia: simple,
Thu May 3 15:22:06 2012
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