systema

Forms

systēma n (genitive systēmatis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σύστημα (sústēma, “organized whole, body”),^[1][2][3] from σύν (sún, “with, together”) and ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to make stand”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Late Latin as a term of music theory: Martianus Capella uses it as a term of harmony.^[4][5][6][2]

Semantic evolution

Fulgentius and Calcidius' commentary on the Timaeus use it more generally for a whole made up of several parts.^[6][7][2] In medieval music theory it named an interval or a range of notes,^[8][9] and the British poets Frithegod and Neckam use it for the intervals of a melody.^[9] Ecclesiastical Latin has it for “system”.^[10] English system was taken from the Late Latin word in the 1610s, first for “the whole creation, the universe”;^[3] Italian, Spanish and Portuguese sistema and French système are also borrowings from it.^[1]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it as a term of harmony.^[4][5][2]
• c. 500 AD – Fulgentius uses it for a whole made of several parts.^[6][7][2]
• 1610s – English borrows it as system.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A whole made up of several parts, a system.^[7][6][10]
2. (music) An interval or range of notes; a set of intervals.^[4][5][8][9]
3. Harmony.^[1]

Related words

• English system

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
9. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson