systematicadj.n.
/ˌsɪstᵻˈmatɪk/, U.S. /ˌsɪstəˈmædɪk/ A. adj.† 1. Medicine. Relating to or affecting more than one stroke of the pulse. Obsolete.† 3. Belonging to, or dealing in, a ‘system’ or theory; theoretical: cf. system n. 13d. Obsolete.† 7. = systematical adj. 3. Obsolete. rare.
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1658 tr. D. Sennert Nine Bks. Physick & Chirurg. iii. 177 A single inequality, is more dangerous then systematick [L. systematica], or mixed.
1658 tr. D. Sennert Nine Bks. Physick & Chirurg. iii. 178 A Sistematick inequality [L. Inaequalitas systematica], or complication of inequalities unequally made is less dangerous then an equality equally made.
2. Of a writing or treatise: containing or presenting a complete exposition or outline of a subject; of a subject or study: presented, formulated, or pursued as a system or coherent body of ideas or principles; of a writer: dealing with a subject in this way. Cf. systematic theology n. at Compounds.
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the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > [adjective] > relating to systems or characteristics of
habitual1526
material1628
systematic1666
regulative1798
methodological1849
formala1856
grammatical1874
multivalued1934
fuzzy1964
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [adjective] > systematic
systematical1636
systematic1666
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > non-fiction > treatise or dissertation > [adjective] > systematic
systematical1636
systematic1666
society > leisure > the arts > literature > writer or author > [adjective] > systematic
systematical1782
systematic1847
1666 Bp. S. Parker Acct. Nature & Extent Divine Dominion 97 That grave Dutch Doctor, who..has conjured up all his Dutch or Systematick Orthodoxy to confound that blasphemous Heresy.
1725 I. Watts Logick ii. iii. 345 Now we deal much in Essays, and most unreasonably despise systematic Learning.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 397 Systematic philosophy..is not unfrequently involved in difficulty.
1812 H. Davy Elements Chem. Philos. 10 The first Arabian Systematic Works on Chemistry are said to have been composed by Geber.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 110 The necessity of saying something learned and systematic, without knowing what to say.
1847 R. W. Emerson Swedenborg in Wks. (1906) I. 316 Swedenborg is systematic..in every sentence.
1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind i. 2 A systematic treatise on the subject.
1900 Polit. Sci. Q. 15 630 Whatever can be said of the work, no one can accuse it of over-precision in systematic treatment.
1969 I. Berlin Four Ess. Liberty (new ed.) Introd. p. xi I have in these essays, made no systematic attempt to discuss the problem of free will as such.
1990 B. Bettelheim Recoll. & Refl. iii. 198 His writings are aphoristic in nature, since he believed that any systematic treatment..tended to become abstract.
2011 C. Edling & J. Rydgren Sociol. Insights of Great Thinkers i. 4 Sociology is the systematic study of the social aspects of reality.
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the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective]
theoreticala1500
theorica1500
theorical?a1560
inspective1609
theoretic1617
systematic1668
systematical1677
1668 J. Glanvill Plus Ultra xvii. 127 The young Philosophers must take care of looking on their Systematick Notions as the bounds and Perfections of Knowledge.
1697 J. Locke 2nd Vindic. in Wks. (1823) VII. 301 It was a blessed day, when this hopeful birth saw the light; for hereby all the orthodox creed-makers and systematic men are ruined for ever.
1733 J. Lockman tr. Voltaire Lett. conc. Eng. Nation xiii. 97 Des Cartes..hurried away by that systematic Spirit which throws a Cloud over the Minds of the greatest Men, thought he had demonstrated that that Soul is the same Thing as Thought.
1755 M. Maty tr. C.-M. de La Condamine Disc. Inoculation iii. 58 These are not the wild conjectures of a systematic brain, but the result of facts discussed on both sides.
1832 Asiatic Jrnl. & Monthly Reg. 9 i. 233 The method is..borrowed from the systematic notions already explained.
4.
a. Arranged or conducted according to a system, plan, or organized method; involving or observing a system; (of a person) acting according to system, regular and methodical.Now the main sense.
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the world > relative properties > order > [adjective] > of or relating to a system > systematic
formal1413
methodical1570
methodic1620
systematical1686
systematic1722
systemical1724
scientific?1757
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adjective] > methodical (of persons) > of actions
regular?1558
methodical1570
methodic1620
systematic1722
scientific?1757
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adjective] > methodical (of persons)
orderly1581
methodical1589
regular1602
methodic1729
systematic1790
reg'lar1814
scientific1863
1722 F. Brerewood tr. J. Terrasson Crit. Diss. Homer's Iliad I. Introd. p. xx This Method will contribute to give our Work a more consistent and systematick [Fr. systematique] Form.
1789 Loiterer 13 June 8 There was seldom any opportunity of signalizing personal courage amidst the regularity of systematic murder [sc. by artillery].
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 84 These gentlemen value themselves on being systematic . View more context for this quotation
1833 A. Alison Hist. Europe during French Revol. II. xvi. 448 A systematic and uniform line of conduct.
1863 C. Lyell Geol. Evid. Antiq. Man i. 2 The facts brought to light..during the systematic investigation of the Brixham cave.
1867 C. Dickens Let. 21 Jan. (1999) XI. 301 He is very systematic with the luggage.
1910 Encycl. Brit. II. 28/2 Though it will occasionally take a large fly, a worm or other ground-bait, its systematic capture is only essayed with small fish or artificial spinning-baits.
1963 Econ. Bot. 17 180/1 A systematic sampling of the plants..was prepared by selecting every tenth species.
2000 Econ. Affairs 20 60/2 Firms that are most systematic in their search for information to reduce uncertainty are most likely to grow.
b. Acting, carried out, or expressed with deliberate (and frequently malicious) intent; carried out as a regular and reprehensible practice; habitual, deliberate, premeditated.
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the mind > will > intention > [adjective] > performed with intention
bethoughtc1200
expressa1400
wilfula1400
purposedc1422
purpensed1436
malice prepensed1454
aforethought1472
studiedc1475
setc1485
voluntary1495
deliberate?1527
willing1550
witting1553
propensed1560
fore-intendeda1586
affected1586
designed1586
determinate1586
intended1592
deliberated1594
uncasual1614
recollecteda1616
resolved1624
industriousa1628
intentionate1631
pre-intended1636
advised1642
malice prepense1647
sedentary1647
propense1650
consultive1651
(crime, evil, etc.) of forethought1692
conscious1726
intentionala1729
systematic1746
studious1750
systematical1750
prepensive1752
advertent1832
self-conscious1832
volitive1839
designful1852
purposeful1853
purposive1864
thought-controlled1926
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [adjective] > of something evil or reprehensible
systematic1746
systematical1750
systematized1787
1746 tr. J. P. R. de La Bléterie Life Emperor Julian vi. 322 The church, which he persecuted with the most profound, the most refined, and..the most systematic [Fr. systématique] hatred that ever was.
1793 T. Jefferson Let. 8 May in Papers (1992) XXV. 692 A grand juror cannot carry on systematic persecution against a neighbor whom he hates, because he is not permanent in the office.
1828 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I I. vi. 163 We long stood alone in Europe, and often the object of the systematic intrigues of the Papal Court.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. iv. 195 After so many years of systematic devastation at the hands of the Wikings, large districts may have stood almost as empty and uncultivated.
1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 1st Ser. 130 Pope..was a systematic appropriator..of other men's thoughts.
1915 Mother Earth Feb. 393 So-called feministic progress..has only strengthened and broadened the systematic interference of the Government and the Church with the lives of their victims.
1944 Times 21 July 3/4 Resistance groups in Belgium have..been engaged in the systematic destruction of railways, road bridges, telecommunications, [etc.].
1989 Car & Driver Sept. 92/1 The occupation halts the raids by the American Eighth Air Force, a systematic rain of airborne destruction.
1998 Independent 11 June i. 3/4 The most recent incidents have involved systematic attacks by youth gangs on the large summer fairgrounds.
5. Chiefly in natural history: of or relating to a system of classification; following or arranged according to such a system; taxonomic.See also systematic name n.
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the world > life > biology > taxonomy > [adjective] > system of taxonomy
systematic1746
systematical1763
1746 T. Short Medicina Britannica Pref. p. v The immortal Ray, the best systematic Botanist that ever wrote in England.
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 23 The distinctive Characters, and systematic Arrangement, of Earths and Stones.
1800 G. Shaw (title) General zoology or systematic natural history.
1829 T. Castle Introd. Systematical & Physiol. Bot. 12 Endeavouring to perfect systematic botany.
1863 T. H. Huxley Evid. Man's Place Nature ii. 102/3 This is a very noteworthy circumstance..but it has little systematic value.
1928 Proc. Zool. Soc. 975 The systematic position of the Giant Panda..is a question about which there has been much disagreement amongst zoologists.
1950 H. Kirby Materials & Methods Study Protozoa 18 Haplosporidia are organisms of uncertain systematic position.
2006 J. T. Costa Other Insect Societies vii. 157 A great deal more has been published on further systematic and phylogeographic treatments of the group.
6. Chemistry. Of a chemical name: constructed in accordance with an agreed set of rules so as to represent the detailed chemical structure of the named species; (also) relating to or involving such a name. In later use also: (Biochemistry) of or relating to a method of naming enzymes to indicate the substrate and the chemical reaction catalysed. Contrasted with trivial adj. 8.Examples of systematic names are dihydrogen monoxide for water, H2O, and poly(1-chloroethylene) for polyvinyl chloride.Since 1919, the rules for systematic nomenclature in organic and inorganic chemistry have been standardized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Those for enzymes are determined by the International Union of Biochemistry.See also systematic name n.
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the world > matter > chemistry > chemistry as a science > naming conventions > [adjective] > of the names of a chemical compound
systematic1790
hydrogen1868
trivial1892
1790 W. Nicholson tr. A.-F. de Fourcroy Elements Nat. Hist. & Chem. (new ed.) III. 462 We have expressed saline combinations in which the acids predominate, by adding to the systematic name [Fr. la dénomination méthodique] of these salts, the epithet acidulous.
1820 Philos. Jrnl. 3 337 Chemical systematic denominations, when they appear in mineralogy, are altogether out of their proper place.
1858 Rep. 27th Meeting Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1857 ii. 45 The classification on which the author proposes to base a systematic nomenclature for organic compounds, is a modification of that employed by Gerhardt.
1928 Biochem. Jrnl. 22 1430 In order to lessen the clumsiness of the systematic nomenclature of thyroxine derivatives it is proposed to call the amino-acid, desiodothyroxine.
1958 Nature 15 Feb. 452/2 Enzymes catalysing oxido-reductions would be named oxidoreductases in the systematic nomenclature.
2002 S. Doonan Peptides & Proteins i. 4 The names of the amino acids..are not systematic. They are, however, the names by which they are universally known.
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the world > the universe > heavenly body > [adjective] > group
systemary1726
systematic1794
1794 Anthologia Hibernica Dec. 455 The nearest of the fixed stars, may therefore be considered as suns apertaining to this systematic congress.
1829 Chapters Physical Sci. 415 Those numerous hosts of systematic universes.
8. Anatomy and Physiology. = systemic adj. 1. Now rare.
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the world > life > the body > system > [adjective] > organ > set of
systematic1875
systemic1878
1875 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 565 The general blood-pressure in the systematic vessels is an important matter in sustaining the intercranial flow.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 3 The ‘systematic’ lesions [of myelitis].
1906 H. W. Syers tr. J. P. Morat Physiol. Nerv. Syst. ii. ii. 214 The reflex act is of all systematic nervous actions the simplest.
2002 Jrnl. Amer. College Surgeons 195 560/1 NF [= neurofibromatosis] is a complex, systematic disease with a wide variety of sequelae and complications.
9. Linguistics. Of phonology or phonemics: involving or concerned with the analysis of phonological units that represent underlying forms which alter in relation to phonological patterns and morphological variation.
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1964 N. Chomsky Current Issues in Ling. Theory 74 It seems necessary to conclude that systematic phonemics and systematic phonetics are the only two levels of representation that appear in structural descriptions provided by the phonological component.
1975 L. M. Hyman Phonol. 82 Systematic phonemics..goes beyond proposing an abstract morphophonemic level.
1977 J. M. Unger Stud. in Early Japanese Morphophonemics ii. 16 Systematic phonology begins with the same phonetic data as taxonomic phonology, but takes into consideration as well all morphophonemic and syntactic relations.
2014 E. Baković in M. Goldrick et al. Oxf. Handbk. Lang. Production xii. 207/2 There is mounting evidence that much of what was once relegated to a universal, noncategorical ‘phonetic interpretation module’ (and even some of what was once considered ‘low-level’ systematic phonology) is both language-specific and gradient.
The deviser of a systematic philosophy or classification; an adherent of a system; a systematist. Obsolete.
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the world > life > biology > taxonomy > [noun] > system of > proponent of
systematic1662
systematist1700
systemist1714
methodist1753
taxonomist1835
lumper1857
taxonomer1881
splitter1887
taxinomist1899
cytotaxonomist1937
biosystematist1943
pheneticist1965
1662 S. Patrick Brief Acct. Latitude-men 9 They derive it from the same fountains, not from the Spinose school-men, or Dutch systematicks, neither from Rome nor Geneva.
1771 T. Percival Ess. Med. & Exper. (1777) I. 9 Salt, sulphur, acrimonies, caustics, volatiles, ferments,..have each..by different systematics, been received as the..principia morborum.
1788 J. Brown tr. Elements Med. I. 287 Nothing is more artificial and arbitrary than the arrangements either of Systematics or Nosologists.
1846 Medico-chirurg. Rev., & Jrnl. Pract. Med. 49 154 The systematics declare, that however well-looking eclectism may be upon paper it is destitute of practical applications.
Compounds
systematic ambiguity n. Philosophy variation in meaning of a term or expression, of a kind governed and explicable by a rule.
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the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > philosophy of language > language theories of individual philosophers > [noun] > systematic ambiguity (in Russell and Whitehead)
systematic ambiguity1908
1908 B. Russell in Amer. Jrnl. Math. 30 235 This appearance is due to a systematic ambiguity about such words as true and false.
1952 W. V. Quine Methods of Logic p. xi Systematic ambiguities..are essential to the nature of language.
2001 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 12 May c15 Kemp has shown himself a master of systematic ambiguity and the idiosyncratic exploitation of figures and syntax.
systematic desensitization n. Psychology treatment for a phobia in which the patient is exposed to progressively more anxiety-provoking stimuli and at the same time taught relaxation techniques.
ΚΠ
1958 J. Wolpe Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition p. xiv (heading) Systematic desensitization based on relaxation.
1967 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 113 239/1 My reference was purely to systematic desensitization, which, of course, is only one of many behaviour therapy techniques.
2014 Spectator (Nexis) 3 May A mobile phone app was launched called Phobia Free, which uses systematic desensitisation to alleviate fear of spiders.
systematic error n. Statistics an error that recurs and cannot be regarded as due wholly to chance (so that repeated measurements give a mean value consistently different from the true value) and typically arising from incorrect calibration of equipment or bias in the way a measurement is made; = cumulative error n. at cumulative adj. 2c; frequently contrasted with random error n. at random n., adv., and adj. Compounds 2.
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the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > distortion of result
systematic error1826
bias1847
1826 Tables Results 11 in Astron. Observ. Oct.–Dec. There is evidently a systematic error in Jones between the Zenith and the Pole.
1925 R. A. Fisher Statist. Methods vi. 169 It is worth while to consider the effects of two classes of systematic errors, which..become of increasing importance as larger numbers of samples are averaged.
2008 Economist 8 Mar. 102/3 Dr Anderson and his team have..gone through painstaking efforts to rule out conventional physical explanations and systematic errors.
systematic geography n. Geography the study of geographical phenomena organized by class or type rather than by region.
ΚΠ
1888 W. M. Davis in National Geogr. Mag. 1 26 As the essential of the Study here outlined is the systematic relation of form to structure, base level and time, the new term might be Systematic Geography.
1961 T. W. Freeman 100 Years of Geogr. ii. 32 The second great advance of the early and middle nineteenth century was in what is now called systematic geography; the Cosmos..of von Humboldt (1769-1859) is frequently regarded as the main expression of this development.
2008 L. Rana Geogr. Thought 247 The actual purpose of systematic geography is to lead to an understanding of the causal relations of phenomena in areas, an understanding that may be expressed in principles that can be applied in the interpretation of individual regions.
systematic theologian n. Theology an advocate, adherent, or proponent of systematic theology.
ΚΠ
1815 J. Yates Vindic. Unitarianism iii. 232 I never knew, that his superiority to the Father was a doctrine taught by systematic theologians.
1915 Amer. Jrnl. Theol. 19 383 (heading) What shall the systematic theologian expect from the New Testament scholar?
1992 N.Y. Times 4 Jan. 26/6 Do not try to pass yourself off as a systematic theologian without knowing hermeneutics of suspicion, second naivété and anti-foundationalism.
2000 Church Times 10 Mar. 18/1 This is a readable and engaging attempt by a systematic theologian to formulate a Christian alternative to the supersessionist theology of traditional doctrine.
systematic theology n. [after post-classical Latin theologia systematica (1635 or earlier); compare German systematische Theologie (1760 or earlier)] Theology the branch of theology that deals with giving a coherent, rationally ordered account of the body of religious doctrine.
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1696 T. Beverley Christianity Great Mystery 3 Those Forms of Sound Doctrine, so often Reproached under the Name of Systems, or Systematic Theology.
1715 J. Woodworth Let. 1 July in Trans. Hist. Soc. Lancs. & Cheshire 1884 (1887) 36 25 In his Preface he gives us a brief hystory of ye progress of Systematick Theology.
1762 Let. to Friend in J. Duchal Sermons p. xxiv His mind was early pre-occupied by the high systematic theology, then in fashion.
1836 H. Rogers Life J. Howe ii. 24 Systematic theology..has..been of very questionable benefit.
1895 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 5 410 It is the requirements of science and not the requirements of systematic theology which seem to trouble the present-day defenders of free-will.
1917 W. Rauschenbusch Theol. for Social Gospel i. 1 We have a social gospel. We need a systematic theology large enough to match it.
2012 Church Times 8 June 7/2 Recently there has been a considerable revival concerned with the issue of Trinitarian thinking simply within systematic theology itself.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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