simplex
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simplex
- /ˈsɪmplɛks/ UK
- /ˈsɪmˌplɛks/ US
- /ˈsɪmplɪsiːz/ UK
- /ˈsɪmpləˌsiz/ US
- /sɪmˈplɪsiə/ US, UK
Where it comes from
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). (In his pioneering works on algebraic topology, the French mathematician Henri Poincaré (1854–1912) had previously introduced the concept, but not the actual term simplex.)
adjective
- Having a single structure; not composite or complex; undivided, unitary.
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Of an eye: (supposedly) having pigment on only the posterior surface of the iris and not the anterior surface, and thus appearing blue; this was later found to be inaccurate, as eye colour is due to the amount of pigment in the anterior surface of the iris; also, of eye pigmentation: present only on the posterior surface of the iris; and of a person: having eyes with this form of pigmentation.
Opposite: duplex
-
Of a circuit or device: involving signals which travel in one direction at a time; unidirectional.
Opposite: bidirectional, duplex
- Of a polyploid organism: having one dominant allele at a given locus on all homologous chromosomes.
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Synonym of heterozygous (“of an organism: having two different alleles in a given gene”).
Similar: heterozygous
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Of a word: having no (derivational) affixes; simple, monomorphemic, uncompounded.
Opposite: polymorphemic
- Of an apartment (or, sometimes, another type of property): having only one floor or storey; single-storey.
noun simplexes · simplices · simplicia
- A generalization of a triangle or tetrahedron to an arbitrary dimension; more accurately, the convex hull of n+1 affinely independent points in n-dimensional space.
- A word which is not compound and contains no derivational affixes (inflectional affixes are usually disregarded); a monomorphemic word. The word weak is a simplex. Its derivative weaken is not.
- In full simplex sentence: in transformational grammar: a simple sentence which is the product of a few transformations; a kernel sentence. The question is: is 139. [“Priexal Vanja. ‘arrived Vanya’”] a simplex or is it a cleft structure in which all 'superfluous' constituents were deleted. […] The only indication that 139. is a simplex is the sentence intonation and the absence of a break between the verb and the subject.
- An apartment (or, sometimes, another type of property) having only one floor or storey; a single-storey property.
Similar: monoplex
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: monoplex
Translations
Every language
adj of a circuit or device: involving signals which travel in one direction at a time — see also unidirectional
| 中文 | 單工 /单工 dāngōng |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | μονόδρομος monódromos |
| Tiếng Việt | đơn công |
noun generalization of a triangle or tetrahedron to an arbitrary dimension, the generalization being the simplest possible convex polytope for a given dimension
| Español | símplex |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 단체 danche |
| 日本語 | 単体 tantai |
| 中文 | 單純形 /单纯形 dānchúnxíng |
| Português | simplex, simplexo |
| Français | simplexe |
| Deutsch | Simplex |
| Italiano | simplesso |
| Română | simplex |
| Русский | си́мплекс símpleks |
| العربية | مُبَسَّط mubassaṭ |
| עברית | סימפלקס |
noun word which is not compound and contains no derivational affixes
| Deutsch | Simplex |
|---|
Talk about this word "simplex." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/simplex. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. simplex. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/simplex "simplex." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/simplex.Cite this
@misc{simplex_2026,
title = {simplex},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/simplex},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
