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systematic, systemic

 
Fowler's Modern English Usage:

systematic, systemic


The word in general use in the meaning 'done according to a plan or system' is systematic, and one can equally speak of systematic learning (i.e. following a system or set of principles) and a systematic search (i.e. one done methodically); the second is only a slight extension in meaning of the first. The less common word systemic means 'relating to or affecting a system as a whole (rather than to a part of it)', as in systemic failures in an organization, and has special technical meanings in medicine and linguistics.

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 Fowler's Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. © 1999, 2004 All rights reserved.  Read more

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