純

• Physical Purity: Unmixed or single-colored; a lack of contamination or dilution in materials or elements.
• Moral/Psychological Simplicity: Being without guile, artifice, or ulterior motives; characterized by undividedness.
• Totality and Exclusivity: Used to indicate that something is "entirely," "purely," or "solely" one thing.

• Adjective: Describing the nature of a substance or a person's character.
• Adverbial Modifier: Modifying a verb or another adjective to indicate exclusivity or completeness.

Contrast with 淳 (Water radical): While often interchangeable in later texts, 純 emphasizes composition and the absence of foreign elements (unmixed/refined), whereas 淳 emphasizes depth, thickness, or sincerity of temperament (honest/deep).

Originates in textiles (silk radical), referring to thread of a single color or quality, unvariegated and unadulterated.

When encountering "simple" as a gloss, distinguish between the virtuous state of being undivided (//simplicitas//) and "plainness" (a lack of importance or complexity). In philosophical contexts, the former is usually intended.