See Also: System(medicine)
system(dictionary)
System(money)
SOS system(medicine)
O-R system(medicine)
T system(medicine)
System(casino)
system(dictionary)
neurotransmitter system(medicine)
open system(medicine)

system (iou)



system noun. E17.
[French systeme or late Latin systema from Greek sustema, sustematos, from sunistanai, from sun- SYN- + sta- base of histanai set up.]
gen. A group or set of related or associated material or immaterial things forming a unity or complex whole; spec. (arch.) the universe. E17.
E. Bancroft The blessings of Nature..in..our habitable system. J. Priestley The Greeks distributed their years into systems of four, calling them Olympiads. W. Paley The universe itself is a system.
b. Science. A group or set of objects naturally associated or of phenomena sharing a common cause. M19.
c. A set of objects or appliances arranged or organized for some special purpose, as parts of a mechanism, components of an interdependent or interconnecting assembly or network, etc. M19.
A body of theory or practice pertaining to or prescribing a particular form of government, religion, philosophy, etc.; a comprehensive and methodically arranged conspectus of a subject. E17.
Tennyson A dust of systems and of creeds. J. Martineau Morality is not a system of truths, but a system of rules. B. Jowett In the Hegelian system ideas supersede persons.
b. transf. A comprehensive and methodical exposition of or treatise on a subject. obsolete exc. in titles of books. M17.
c. With the. The established or prevailing political, economic, or social order, esp. regarded as oppressive. Also, any impersonal restrictive institution or organization. E19.
Ottawa Journal The deeply moving..story of a young man who wouldn't surrender to the system.
Music. In ancient Greek music, a compound interval consisting of several degrees (opp. DIASTEM); a scale or series of notes extending through such an interval and serving as a basis for composition. Also, a set of staves connected by a brace in a score. E17.
An organized scheme or plan of action, esp. a complex or comprehensive one; an orderly or regular procedure or method; spec. (a) a formal or established scheme or method of classification, notation, etc.; (b) a consistent method of betting devised or used by a gambler. M17.
net system, periodic system, solid system, tally system, etc.
Times The T.A. system of signalling invented by Admiral Tryon. J. Symons A racing system, something to do with backing second favourites. A. Loos A new system she thought up of how to learn French.
b. Orderly arrangement or method; classification; orderliness. L17.
Physics. A group of bodies moving about one another in space under a dynamical law, as the law of gravitation; Astronomy a group of celestial objects connected by their mutual attractive forces, esp. moving in orbits about a centre. L17.
planetary system, solar system, etc.
Biology.
a. A set of organs or parts in an animal or plant body which have the same or similar structure, or which together serve the same physiological function. M18.
digestive system, immune system, lateral line system, limbic system, nervous system, portal system, pyramidal system, reticular system, etc.
b. The whole body of an organism regarded as an organized whole; the sum of an organism's vital processes or functions. M18.
Geology. A major stratigraphic division, composed of a number of series and corresponding to a period in time; the rocks deposited during a specific period. E19.
Crystallography. Each of the six (or seven) basic geometrically distinct ways in which different minerals crystallize, constituting the six (or seven) classes of crystalline forms. E19.
Greek Prosody. A group of connected verses or periods, esp. in anapaestic metres. M19.
Metallurgy. The set of the various phases that two or more given metals are capable of forming at different temperatures and pressures. Usu. with specifying word, as alloy system. E20.
Linguistics. A group of paradigmatically interrelated terms, units, or categories. M20.
Computing. A group of related or interconnected hardware units or programs or both, esp. when dedicated to a single application; spec. = OPERATING system. M20.
Phrases: all systems go everything functioning correctly, ready to proceed. Continental System: see CONTINENTAL adjective. decimal system: see DECIMAL adjective. get a thing out of one's system colloq. rid oneself of a preoccupation or anxiety. mercantile system: see MERCANTILE. public address system: see PUBLIC adjective & noun. SEXUAL system. social system: see SOCIAL adjective.
Comb.: system-building (a) systematic thought, the process of building an intellectual system; (b) a method of construction using standardized prefabricated components; system D slang a (usu. unscrupulous) way of getting or keeping out of trouble, bluff; system integrator Computing a company which markets commercial integrated software and hardware systems; system operator a person who operates procedures for the whole of a computer system; spec. the supervisor of an electronic bulletin board; system program Computing a program forming part of an operating system; systems analysis the analysis of complex operations and processes, esp. as an aid to decision-making or the efficient implementation of a computer system; systems analyst a person engaged in systems analysis; systems design the matching of a computer system to the situation in which it is to be used; systems engineering (a) the investigation of complex artificial systems in relation to the apparatus that is or might be involved in them; (b) the design and installation of computer systems; systems integrator = system integrator above; system software Computing = systems software below; systems program = system program above; systems software Computing system programs collectively.
systemed adjective (rare) systematized, systematic M18.
systemist noun (rare) = SYSTEMATIST L18.
systemi'zation noun = SYSTEMATIZATION M19.
systemize verb trans. = SYSTEMATIZE 1 L18.
systemizer noun = SYSTEMATIZER L19.
systemless adjective having no system; disordered, unsystematic, structureless: M19.