Simple, plain, or lacking ornament; characterized by absence of complexity or artifice.
From Old English 'aefeld' with the adjectival suffix '-y' (or '-dy'), creating a variant form meaning the same as 'aefald.' This represents a Middle English adjectival formation that emphasized simplicity and directness of character or appearance.
Medieval English speakers used '-y' endings to create quick-and-easy adjectives from nouns (like 'stone-y'), and 'aefaldy' is a wonderful fossil of this productive word-building system that's still alive today in words like 'cloudy' and 'grassy.'
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