Simpler

How to spell simpler

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce simpler

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does simpler mean?

1. adjectiveMore easy to understand or do, or less complicated, than something else.

Simpler in a sentence

• The new tax form is much simpler than last year's version.

• There must be a simpler way to assemble this bookcase.

Where does simpler come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the comparative form of 'simple', a word English took from Old French simple in the 1200s, which in turn descended from the Latin simplus, meaning 'single' or 'onefold'. That Latin term was built from sem-, an ancient root meaning 'one', combined with the idea of folding, so something simple was literally folded only once and therefore plain and uncomplicated. The related Latin simplex, meaning 'single' or 'unmixed', survives in the modern English 'simplex'. Over time 'simple' broadened from 'consisting of one part' to its everyday meanings of 'easy' and 'unpretentious'. The comparative is formed regularly by adding -er, and because 'simple' already ends in a silent e, only the r and e of the suffix are written, giving 'simpler' rather than the mistaken 'simplier'.

How the word is built

• simpl- (from Latin simplus: single, plain)
• -er (comparative suffix)