simplicity

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman simplicité and partly borrowed from Latin simplicitās (“simpleness, frankness, candour”),^[2][3][4][5] from simplex (“simple”) and the suffix that gives English -ity.^[3][6][7] The AHD traces simplex to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one, as one”).^[8] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records simplicité from the early 12th century, already meaning unpretentiousness, innocence and simple-mindedness.^[9] Etymonline notes that Middle English also had simplesse from French, and an older simplete (“lack of ostentation”), from about 1200.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Barnhart and Etymonline give about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius, where it means singleness of nature, unity.^[6][3] The OED's first quotation, for the quality of having a simple form or structure, is from a1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

As in Anglo-Norman, the word was used both kindly and unkindly.^[9][2] Lack of knowledge or common sense, foolishness, is recorded from c1450 by the OED;^[2] Barnhart's date is 1514 and Etymonline's about 1400;^[6][3] from 1633 to 1860 a simplicity could even mean a simpleton.^[2] Plainness of style, freedom from ornament in speech or writing, is recorded from ?a1475,^[2][3] and sincerity or guilelessness from a1500,^[2] Barnhart dating artlessness to 1526.^[6] Johnson (1755) put “plainness; artlessness; not subtility; not cunning” first.^[11] Plain or frugal living, the sense behind the simple life, dates from 1542, and absence of decoration from 1593.^[2] The plural, for the uncomplicated aspects of a thing, is recorded from 1826,^[2] and something easy to do has been a simplicity since 1843.^[2]

Timeline

• c1200 – the older word simplete, lack of ostentation.^[3]
• c1380 – singleness of nature, unity.^[6][3]
• a1398 – simple form or structure.^[2]
• c1450 – lack of knowledge or common sense.^[2]
• ?a1475 – plainness of style.^[2]
• a1500 – sincerity, guilelessness.^[2]
• 1542 – plain or frugal living.^[2]
• 1593 – absence of ornament.^[2]
• 1843 – something easy to do.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The quality of being simple or easy to understand or do; absence of complexity: The plan's appeal lay in its simplicity.
2. Plainness of style, dress or way of life; freedom from ornament or luxury.
3. Sincerity and lack of pretence; innocence.
4. Lack of sense or education; foolishness.

Word family

• oversimplicity
• supersimplicity

Related words

• simple
• simplex
• simplify
• simpleton
• single

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.