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Rudimentary vs Simple - What's the difference?

rudimentary | simple | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between rudimentary and simple

is that rudimentary is of or relating to one or more rudiments while simple is uncomplicated; taken by itself, with nothing added.

As a noun simple is

a preparation made from one plant, as opposed to something made from more than one plant.

As a verb simple is

to gather simples, ie, medicinal herbs.

rudimentary

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • of or relating to one or more rudiments
    • I have only a rudimentary grasp of chemistry .
  • Basic; minimal; with less than, or only the minimum, necessary.
    • His grasp of rudimentary English allowed him at least to do the shopping .
    His rudimentary driving skills meant that he was a danger on the road .

    Related terms

    * rudiment

    simple

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Uncomplicated; taken by itself, with nothing added.
  • *
  • *:“[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”
  • *2001 , Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography , Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-78512-X), page 167,
  • *:There is no simple way to define precisely a complex arrangement of parts, however homely the object may appear to be.
  • Without ornamentation; plain.
  • Free from duplicity; guileless, innocent, straightforward.
  • * (ca.1576-1634)
  • *:Full many fine men go upon my score, as simple as I stand here, and I trust them.
  • *(Lord Byron) (1788-1824)
  • *:Must thou trust Tradition's simple tongue?
  • *(Ralph Waldo Emerson) (1803-1882)
  • *:To be simple is to be great.
  • Undistinguished in social condition; of no special rank.
  • Trivial; insignificant.
  • *1485 , (Thomas Malory), (w, Le Morte d'Arthur) , Book X:
  • *:‘That was a symple cause,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘for to sle a good knyght for seyynge well by his maystir.’
  • Feeble-minded; foolish.
  • Structurally uncomplicated.
  • #(lb) Consisting of one single substance; uncompounded.
  • #(lb) Of a group: having no normal subgroup.
  • #(lb) Not compound, but possibly lobed.
  • #(lb) Consisting of a single individual or zooid; not compound.
  • #:
  • #(lb) Homogenous.
  • (lb) Mere; not other than; being only.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:A medicinewhose simple touch / Is powerful to araise King Pepin.

    • Synonyms

    * (consisting of a single part or aspect) onefold * (having few parts or features) plain * See also

    Antonyms

    * (having few parts or features) complex, compound, complicated * (uncomplicated) subtle

    Derived terms

    * fee simple * future simple * oversimple * past simple * plain and simple * present simple * pure and simple * simple beam * simple connectivity * simple contract * simple dislocation * simple equation * simple extension * simple eye * simple fraction * simple fracture * simple fruit * simple function * simple future * simple group * simple harmonic motion * simple-hearted * simple interest * simple leaf * simple linear regression * simple machine * simple mastectomy * simple microscope * simple-minded * simple past * simple pendulum * simple pistil * simple pole * simple present * simple protein * simple regression * simple sentence * Simple Simon * simple sugar * simple syrup * simple time * simple trust * simplehead * simpleness * simpless * simplex * simply * single * simplicity * simpleton

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (medicine) A preparation made from one plant, as opposed to something made from more than one plant.
  • *, II.37:
  • *:I know there are some simples , which in operation are moistening and some drying.
  • *Sir W. Temple
  • *:What virtue is in this remedy lies in the naked simple itself as it comes over from the Indies.
  • (obsolete) A term for a physician, derived from the medicinal term above.
  • (logic) A simple or atomic proposition.
  • (obsolete) Something not mixed or compounded.
  • *Shakespeare
  • *:compounded of many simples
  • (weaving) A drawloom.
  • (weaving) Part of the apparatus for raising the heddles of a drawloom.
  • (Roman Catholic) A feast which is not a double or a semidouble.

    • Verb

    (simpl)
  • (transitive, intransitive, archaic) To gather simples, ie, medicinal herbs.

    • Derived terms

    * simpler * simplist * simplify

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    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----