simplify

Definition

To make simpler, either by reducing in complexity, reducing to component parts, or making easier to understand.

Etymology

From the French simplifier, equivalent to simple + -ify.

Example Sentences

• "In ancient times there existed in the region of the Tung-chia River 佟佳江 in present Liaoning a people called Kao-chü-li 高句驪. In the fifth century they moved their capital to P’ing-jang. The name of the country was simplified to Kao-li 高麗 (Korea)."
• "Quizzed on simplifying fares, Heaton-Harris said the Government had inherited a "mix of ticketing and unbelievable, interesting fares up and down the system, and we do want to simplify them"."
• "Thus, throughout the nineteenth century, linguists generally held that more grammatically complex languages were older and that languages tended to simplify over time—the four grammatical cases of German as contrasted with the seven of Latin, for example."