Added 9 October 2026
simplex
/ˈsɪmplɛks/ adjective
Latin root: simplex Coined: 1846, by Pieter Hendrik Schoute Wiktionary
adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about simplex at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Allowing communication in only one direction at a time, or in telegraphy allowing only one message over a line at a time.
simplex system
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Having only one part or element.
a simplex word has no affixes and is not part of a compound--like `boy' compared with `boyish' or `house' compared with `houseboat'
Origin
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin simplex (“plain, simple; single”). The first part, sim-, comes from Proto-Indo-European *sem-, *sm̥- (“one; together”). The second part, -plex, may be from *pleḱ- (“to weave”). The noun is derived from the adjective. The plural forms simplices and simplicia are learned borrowings from Latin simplicēs (masculine or feminine) and simplicia (neuter), respectively plural forms of simplex. Noun sense 1 (“generalization of a triangle or tetrahedron to an arbitrary dimension”) was apparently coined by the Dutch mathematician Pieter Hendrik Schoute (1846–1913) as a short version of Simplicissimum in Mehrdimensionale Geometrie (in German, 1902).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)