Systematically

How to spell systematically

14 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce systematically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does systematically mean?

1. adverbIn a methodical, orderly way that follows a fixed plan or procedure.

Systematically in a sentence

• The auditors worked systematically through every transaction in the ledger.

• She systematically labelled each box before the movers arrived.

Where does systematically come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek systema, which meant an organised whole assembled from many parts, built from syn 'together' and the root histanai 'to set up or place'. Latin took it as systema, and by the 1600s English had 'system' for any coherent set of connected things. The adjective 'systematic' followed, describing something done according to an orderly plan rather than at random, and the adverb 'systematically' was formed by adding the familiar -ly ending. The long chain of suffixes is exactly the spelling trap: writers must hold the full stack of system + atic + al + ly in place, and the unstressed middle syllables blur in speech. The same Greek root surfaces in relatives like 'systemic' and even 'epistemology', all sharing that idea of things set together in order.

How the word is built

• system (from Greek systema: an organised whole)
• -atic (adjective)
• -al (adjective)
• -ly (adverb)