simple (French)

Where does "simple" come from?

French simple comes down from Old French simple, which had earlier been borrowed from Latin simplex. In Latin, simplex literally meant something like “one-fold,” built from sem- “one, single” and -plex “-fold,” so the word’s path is Proto-Indo-European *sem- and a folding root > Latin simplex > Old French > modern French. Along the way, the sense broadened from “single” or “uncompounded” to the familiar meanings “simple,” “plain,” and “straightforward.”

Full etymology tree

• simple (French), 'single'
  • inherited from simple (Old French), 'innocent'
    • borrowed from simplex (Latin), 'single'
      • inherited from *sm̥-plak-s (Proto-Italic)
        • compound of *sm̥- (Proto-Indo-European), 'one'
          • derived from *sem- (Proto-Indo-European), 'together, one'
        • compound of *-plaks (Proto-Italic)
          • derived from *pleḱ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to fold, plait, weave'
            • derived from *pel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover, to wrap'
          • derived from *pel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover, to wrap'
      • suffix *-s (Proto-Indo-European), 'Derives feminine mobile-accented root nouns from roots.'
      • compound of *-pleks (Proto-Italic)
        • derived from *pleḱ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to fold, plait, weave'
          • derived from *pel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover, to wrap'
      • compound of *-plaks (Proto-Italic)
        • derived from *pleḱ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to fold, plait, weave'
          • derived from *pel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover, to wrap'
        • derived from *pel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover, to wrap'

Direct ancestors

• simple (Old French)
• simple (Old French)
• simplex (Latin)

Updated March 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris