systematics

[sis-tuh-mat-iks]

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. the study of systems or of classification.

2. Biology.

   1. the study and classification of organisms with the goal of reconstructing their evolutionary histories and relationships.

   2. phylogenetic classification.

systematics

/ ˌsɪstɪˈmætɪks /

noun

1. (functioning as singular) the study of systems and the principles of classification and nomenclature

Word History and Origins

Origin of systematics¹

First recorded in 1885–90; systematic, -ics

Example Sentences

The focus shifted to reducing so-called systematics: repeatable errors that creep in because of faults in the design of experiments or equipment.

Read more on Scientific American

To subtract the galactic spectrum correctly, researchers have to calculate with high precision how their instrument and the environment around it respond to various radio wavelengths, also known as the experiment’s systematics.

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Researchers noted that “future measurements are needed to clarify whether the observed discordances are due to undetected systematics, or to new physics or simply are a statistical fluctuation.”

Read more on Salon

To do so, however, radioastronomers must know exactly how their instrument responds to different wavelengths, also known as its systematics.

Read more on Nature

As at the Darwin Centre in London’s Natural History Museum, visitors can gaze through windows beyond the taxidermy to watch scientists studying taxonomy and systematics, biogeography and ecology, invasion biology, evolution, zooarchaeology, archaeobotany and more.

Read more on Nature