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simplex

simp·lex

UK/ˈsɪmplɛks/ US/ˈsɪmˌplɛks/ uncommon archaic dated obsolete

adjective

1.

allowing communication in only one direction at a time, or in telegraphy allowing only one message over a line at a time

  • “simplex system”
Similar
2.

having only one part or element

  • “a simplex word has no affixes and is not part of a compound--like”
  • “compared with”
  • “or”
  • “compared with”
  • “'”
Similar

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). (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.)

Phrases

  • crux simplex
  • herpes simplex
  • simplex method
  • simplicial complex

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.