systemic English · revision 39971

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1803}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /sɪˈstɛm.ɪk/, /sɪˈstiː.mɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /sɪˈstɛm.ɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[system]] and [[-ic]],^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) irregularly, as the Shorter Oxford, Etymonline and the Oxford Dictionary of English note,^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)^(ODE 2010) since the expected form is [[systematic]]; the OED compares an earlier adjective ending in -ical.^(OED 2026) Etymonline explains the separate form as a way of keeping this medical and biological meaning apart from ''systematic''.^(Etymonline) The sense of a lesion affecting a single nerve tract followed [[m|fr|systématique]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In anatomy and physiology, of the parts of the circulation that carry blood from the heart to the body and back, as opposed to the lungs: 1803, in Barclay's ''New Anatomical Nomenclature''.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline glosses the first use as "of or pertaining to the body as a whole".^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1834 the word was used in medicine for what affects more than one system of organs, or the body as a whole,^(OED 2026) and since 1851 for a drug or treatment that acts on the whole body rather than locally.^(OED 2026) The general meaning, relating to a system or method, is found from 1850 but is now rare.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In 1945 it was applied to pesticides that are taken up into the tissues of a plant,^(OED 2026) and the noun, a systemic pesticide, followed;^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) Merriam-Webster dates the noun 1951, while the OED has it from 1893 for a systemic drug.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026) The sense that is now common outside medicine, inherent in a system as a whole (as in ''systemic racism''), is recorded from 1887.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1803 – (anatomy) of the general circulation of the blood.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1834 – (medicine) affecting the body as a whole.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1850 – of or relating to a system in general (now rare).^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1851 – of a medicine or treatment, acting on the whole body.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1871 – (geology) relating to a stratigraphic system.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1887 – relating to or inherent in a system as a whole.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1893 – noun, a systemic drug.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1945 – of a pesticide, absorbed into a plant's tissues.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Affecting or relating to a whole system, rather than one part of it: ''The report found systemic failures in the regulator's approach.''^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (medicine) Affecting the whole [[body]] rather than one part; of a drug, acting throughout the body.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (anatomy) Of the part of the [[circulation]] that supplies the body through the [[aorta]], as opposed to the lungs.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Of a [[pesticide]] or [[fungicide]], absorbed into the tissues of a plant so that the plant itself becomes toxic to pests.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A systemic pesticide or drug.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[systemically]]

+ * [[nonsystemic]]

+ * [[systemic circulation]]

+ * [[systemic lupus erythematosus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[system]]

+ * [[systematic]]

+ * [[systematize]]

+ * [[systemize]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}