simply-connected

[sim-plee-kuh-nek-tid]

adjective

Mathematics.

1. (of a set or domain) having a connected complement.

2. (of a set or domain) having the property that every simple closed curve in the set can be shrunk to a point without intersecting the boundary of the set.

Word History and Origins

Origin of simply-connected¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

This was inelegant, but it was mathematically guaranteed to work on simply-connected mazes -- and, in fact, Harvey outperformed more sophisticated robots that tried to `learn' each maze by building an internal representation of it.

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