simplicity
English
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for simplicity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)
Etymology
From Middle English simplicite, from Old French simplicite, from Latin simplicitās, from simplex (“simple”). See simple.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɪmˈplɪsɪti/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
simplicity (countable and uncountable, plural simplicities)
- The state or quality of being simple
- The quality or state of being unmixed or uncompounded
- as, the simplicity of metals or of earths
- The quality or state of being not complex, or of consisting of few parts
- the simplicity of a machine
- Lack of sharpness of mind; lack of ability to think using complex ideas; stupidity
- Lack of artificial ornament, pretentious style, or luxury; plainness
- simplicity of dress, of style, or of language
- simplicity of diet
- simplicity of life
- Freedom from subtlety or abstruseness; clarity
- the simplicity of a doctrine
- the simplicity of an explanation or a demonstration
- Freedom from complication; efficiency.
- 2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
- Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.
- The quality or state of being unmixed or uncompounded
- (archaic, rare) An act or instance of foolishness.
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 31, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- speaking of the great simplicity we commit, in leaving yong children under the government and charge of their fathers and parents.
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Synonyms
Antonyms
Related terms
Translations
quality or state of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded; as, the simplicity of metals or of earths
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quality or state of being not complex, or of consisting of few parts
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artlessness of mind; freedom from cunning or duplicity; lack of acuteness and sagacity
freedom from artificial ornament, pretentious style, or luxury
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freedom from subtlety or abstruseness; clearness
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freedom from complication; efficiency
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weakness of intellect; silliness; folly
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References
- simplicity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- simplicity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
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