Etymologically
Log in

simplicity

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /sɪmˈplɪsɪti/[1]

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

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.