Etymologically
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simplex

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈsɪm.pɫɛks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsim.pleks][1]

Forms

simplex (genitive simplicis, comparative simplicior, superlative simplicissimus, adverb simpliciter); third-declension one-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sem- (“one”) + -plex (“-fold”), literally “one-fold”.[2][1][3] The first element is the root of semel “once”, from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”).[1][4] Lewis and Short compare plicō “to fold”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[6] who says a town will be well enough protected by a single wall.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant single, of one layer, as a single wall or battle line, and onefold in payments.[2] It meant consisting of one element, simple, uncompounded, as Terence's comedy made double from a single plot and Cicero's nature of a living being that is either simple or compound.[2][7]

It meant pure and simple, free from complications, plain and unadorned, as Horace's simple pipe with few holes.[2] Of people it meant artless, frank or guileless, as Cicero's “what a simple man, who hides nothing from us!”.[2] In mathematics it meant prime.[1] English simplex was borrowed in the 1590s.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a single wall.[2][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a simple plot.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a frank man.[2][6]
  • 1590s – English simplex is borrowed.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Single, of one layer.[2][1]
  2. Onefold.[2]
  3. Simple, uncompounded.[2][1]
  4. Alone, pure and simple.[2][1]
  5. Basic, absolute.[2]
  6. Straightforward, uncomplicated.[2]
  7. Plain, unadorned.[2]
  8. Artless, frank, guileless, naive.[2][1]
  9. (mathematics) Prime.[1]

Word family

  • persimplex
  • simplicitās
  • simplicō
  • duplex
  • quadruplex
  • simplicābilis
  • simplus
  • triplex
  • English simplex

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.