system
Meanings
noun
- A group or set of related things that operate together as a complex whole.
- A set of hardware and software operating in a computer.
- A set of equations involving the same variables, which are to be solved simultaneously.
- A set of staves linked by a brace that indicate instruments or sounds that are to be played simultaneously.
- A set of body organs having a particular function.
- A set of alters of a person, or the multiple (“an individual with multiple personalities”) who contains them.
- A system in which two or more objects are bound to each other by gravity.
- A comprehensive and logically organized set of propositions or philosophical beliefs.
- The mainstream culture, controlled by the elites or government of a state, or a combination of them, seen as oppressive to the individual.
- A set of rules for a tabletop roleplaying game.
- A socioeconomic formation.
- A method or way of organizing or planning.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Partly borrowed from Middle French sisteme, systeme, partly directly from its etymon Late Latin systēma (“harmony; musical scale; set of celestial objects; set of troops; system”), from Ancient Greek σύστημα (sústēma, “musical scale; organized body; whole made of several parts or members”), from σῠνίστημῐ (sŭnístēmĭ, “to combine, organize”) + -μᾰ (-mă, resultative suffix). σῠνίστημῐ is from σῠν- (sŭn-, “with, together”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”). Cognate with Dutch systeem, modern French système, German System, Italian sistema, Portuguese sistema, Spanish sistema. Doublet of systema.
Synonyms
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Translations
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