simple
/ˈsɪm.pəl/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms simpler simplest simples simpling simpled
- adjective Uncomplicated; lacking complexity; taken by itself, with nothing added.
- adjective Easy; not difficult.
- adjective Without ornamentation; plain.
- adjective Free from duplicity; guileless, innocent, straightforward.
- adjective Undistinguished in social condition; of no special rank.
- adjective (archaic) Trivial; insignificant.
- adjective (now colloquial, euphemistic) Feeble-minded; foolish.
- adjective (chemistry, pharmacology) Consisting of one single substance; uncompounded.
- noun (pharmacology) A herbal preparation made from one plant, as opposed to something made from more than one plant.
- noun (obsolete, by extension) A physician.
- noun (logic) A simple or atomic proposition.
- noun (obsolete) Something not mixed or compounded.
- noun (weaving) A drawloom.
- noun (weaving) Part of the apparatus for raising the heddles of a drawloom.
- noun (Roman Catholicism) A feast which is not a double or a semidouble.
- verb (transitive, intransitive, archaic) To gather simples, i.e. medicinal herbs.
Synonyms
onefold austere bare bare-bones bargain basic cheap default discreet economy elemental elementary essential foundational fundamental incomplex light modest no-frills plain simpleton uncomplicated unproblematic mere childlike wide-eyed round-eyed dewy-eyed dim-witted simple-minded
Antonyms
subtle challenging hard arduous nasty difficult sticky effortful rough rocky thistly tough complex compound
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English symple, from Old French simple, from Latin simplex (“simple”, literally “onefold”) (as opposed to duplex (“double”, literally “twofold”)), from semel (“the same”) + plicō (“to fold”). See same and fold. Compare single, singular, simultaneous, etc. Partially displaced native English onefold.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Single; not complex; not infolded or entangled; uncombined; not compounded; not blended with something else; not complicated; as, a simple substance; a simple idea; a simple sound; a simple machine; a simple problem; simple tasks.
- adjective Plain; unadorned; as, simple dress. "Simple truth." Spenser. "His simple story." Burns.
- noun Something not mixed or compounded. "Compounded of many simples." Shak.
- noun A medicinal plant; --so called because each vegetable was supposed to possess its particular virtue, and therefore to constitute a simple remedy.
Etymology [F., fr. L. simplus, or simplex, gen. simplicis. The first part of the Latin words is probably akin to E. same, and the sense, one, one and the same; cf. L. semel once, singuli one to each, single. Cg. Single, a., Same, a., and for the last part of the word cf. Double, Complex.]
Etymology [F. See Simple, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “simple”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details