Simple
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( a.) Humble; lowly; undistinguished.
(2): ( a.) Something not mixed or compounded.
(3): ( a.) Single; not complex; not infolded or entangled; uncombined; not compounded; not blended with something else; not complicated; as, a simple substance; a simple idea; a simple sound; a simple machine; a simple problem; simple tasks.
(4): ( a.) Consisting of a single individual or zooid; as, a simple ascidian; - opposed to compound.
(5): ( a.) Plain; unadorned; as, simple dress.
(6): ( a.) Mere; not other than; being only.
(7): ( a.) Not given to artifice, stratagem, or duplicity; undesigning; sincere; true.
(8): ( a.) Artless in manner; unaffected; unconstrained; natural; inartificial;; straightforward.
(9): ( v. i.) To gather simples, or medicinal plants.
(10): ( a.) A feast which is not a double or a semidouble.
(11): ( a.) A part of the apparatus for raising the heddles of a drawloom.
(12): ( a.) A drawloom.
(13): ( a.) A medicinal plant; - so called because each vegetable was supposed to possess its particular virtue, and therefore to constitute a simple remedy.
(14): ( a.) Direct; clear; intelligible; not abstruse or enigmatical; as, a simple statement; simple language.
(15): ( a.) Homogenous.
(16): ( a.) Not capable of being decomposed into anything more simple or ultimate by any means at present known; elementary; thus, atoms are regarded as simple bodies. Cf. Ultimate, a.
(17): ( a.) Without subdivisions; entire; as, a simple stem; a simple leaf.
(18): ( a.) Not luxurious; without much variety; plain; as, a simple diet; a simple way of living.
(19): ( a.) Weak in intellect; not wise or sagacious; of but moderate understanding or attainments; hence, foolish; silly.
King James Dictionary [2]
SIM'PLE, a. L. simplex sine, without and plex, plica, doubling, fold
1. Single consisting of one thing uncompounded unmingled uncombined with any thing else as a simple substance a simple idea a simple sound. 2. Plain artless not given to design, stratagem or duplicity undesigning sincere harmless. A simple husbandman in garments gray. 3. Artless unaffected unconstrained inartificial plain. In simple manners all the secret lies. 4. Unadorned plain as a simple style or narration a simple dress. 5. Not complex or complicated as a machine of simple construction. 6. Weak in intellect not wise or sagacious silly. The simple believeth every word but the prudent looketh well to his going. Prov. 14. 7. In botany, undivided, as a root, stem or spike only one on a petiole, as a simple leaf only one on a peduncle, as a simple flower having only one set of rays, as an umbel having only one row of leaflets, as a simple calyx not plumose or fathered, as a pappus. A simple body, in chemisty, is one that has not been decomposed, or separated into two or more bodies.
SIM'PLE, n. Something not mixed or compounded. in the materia medica, the genral denomination of an herb or plant. as each vegetable is supposed to possess its particular virtue, and therefore to constitute a simple remedy.
SIM'PLE, 5 1 To gather simples or plants. As simpling on the flowery hills he stray'd.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [3]
sim´p ' 50 : In the Old Testament the uniform tranlation of the Hebrew word pethı̄ (root pāthāh , "be open"). Like the English word "simple" (etymologically "of one fold"), the Hebrew pethı̄ is used sometimes in a good sense, i.e. "open-minded" ( Psalm 19:7; Psalm 116:6; Psalm 119:130 , possibly in all three cases the sense is neutral rather than positively good ), and sometimes in a bad sense ( Proverbs 7:7 , parallel to "destitute of understanding"; Proverbs 8:5 , parallel to "fools" (blockheads); Proverbs 14:15 , opposed to prudent). The fundamental idea of pethı̄ seems to be open to influence, i.e. easily influenced. That one open to influence should as a rule be classed with the irreligious is one of many instances in which language is an unwilling witness to the miasmatic moral atmosphere in which we live. The line between moral weakness and moral turpitude, between negative goodness (if indeed such a thing be conceivable) and positive badness, is soon passed.
In the New Testament the word "simple" is found only in Romans 16:18 , Romans 16:19 the King James Version. In the first of these passages it is used to translate ákakos (the Revised Version (British and American) "innocent"). In Hebrews 7:26 the King James Version the same word is rendered "harmless," the rendering of the Revised Version (British and American) in this instance being "guileless." This would suit Romans 16:18 better than "innocent." Guilelessness is not a synonym for gullibility; but the guileless are frequently the prey of designing men. In Romans 16:19 the word translated "simple" is akéraios , literally, "unmixed," "sincere" (Trench and Godet; Young, erroneously "hornless" and so "harmless"). "Uncontaminated" seems to be the idea of the apostle. He would have those to whom he wrote "wise as regards good" and not ignorant as regards evil - for that would be impossible, even if desirable - but without that kind of knowledge of evil that comes from engaging in it, as we say, mixing themselves up with it, unalloyed with evil.
