Word.ws English Dictionary

crux simplex

crux simplex noun: a single beam or pole without a cross bar for executions.

Noun

crux simplex (plural cruces simplices)

  1. A single beam or pole without a cross bar for executions.
  2. (historical) The simple pole or stake with which in the Roman Empire common criminals were executed either by being impaled with it or being attached to it, typically with the feet resting on a block to avoid a rapid death by asphyxia and using, for economy, only one nail through the hands (below the palm).

Forms of crux simplex

pluralcruces simplices

Origin of crux simplex

Unadapted borrowing from Latin; specifically, Medieval Latin, as this collocation to name the pole used by the ancient Romans comes from Justus Lipsius (1547–1606) rather than from their own use of Latin (Classical Latin).

Questions about crux simplex

What does crux simplex mean?
Crux simplex means a single beam or pole without a cross bar for executions.
What part of speech is crux simplex?
Crux simplex is a noun.
What is the plural of crux simplex?
The plural of crux simplex is cruces simplices.

Words near crux simplex in the dictionary

  1. crux
  2. crux ansata
  3. crux decussata
  4. crux gammata
  5. crux ordinaria
  6. crux simplex
  7. cruxes
  8. cruxy
  9. Cruyff turn
  10. Cruyff turns
  11. Cruz

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: crux simplex (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “crux simplex.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/crux_simplex. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.