Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

systematize

American  
[sis-tuh-muh-tahyz] / ˈsɪs tə məˌtaɪz /
especially British, systematise

verb (used with object)

  • systematizes,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • systematized,
    past participle,  past
  • systematizing
    present participle
  1. to arrange in or according to a system; reduce to a system; make systematic.

    Synonyms:
    articulate, order, organize

systematize British  
/ ˈsɪstɪməˌtaɪz /

verb

  1. (tr) to arrange in a system

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of systematize

1755–65; < Greek systēmat- (stem of sýstēma ) system + -ize

Explanation

To systematize is to organize things into coherent groups or according to a specific plan. If cleaning your room feels overwhelming, you should systematize the job, breaking it down into orderly steps first. Whenever you arrange or organize something with a system in mind, you're systematizing. Math teachers systematize the subject before attempting to explain it to students, sorting concepts into an order that makes sense and organizing lessons so they gradually increase in difficulty. To teach your dog to shake your hand with his paw, you first need to systematize your training, starting with "sit," and working your way methodically toward your goal.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing systematize

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“The CEO’s attention flits onto something else, and they never systematize the change,” Sigelman said.

From Seattle Times Feb. 28, 2024

Home economics started out as a way to systematize how you kept house so you did it as efficiently as possible.

From Salon May 9, 2021

For years we’ve opted not to make a massive public investment in elder care, or to systematize and formalize the ad hoc system it has created.

From Slate Mar. 11, 2020

Overall, Italian merchants, borrowing from their Arab and Turkic trading partners, pioneered efforts to rationalize and systematize business itself in order to make it more predictable and reliable.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2020

It was trying to explain, describe, and systematize musical practices that were already flourishing because people liked the way they sounded.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

This is, after all, a country that systematizes: we create seminars on how to make friends, teach classes in grieving and make pet walking a profession.

From Time Magazine Archive

Philosopher: One who thinks in order to believe; one who formulates his prejudices and systematizes his ignorance.

From The Roycroft Dictionary Concocted by Ali Baba and the Bunch on Rainy Days. by Elbert Hubbard

"I don't see that" "Well, I may be wrong, but my notion is that what systematizes a life is choice; and choice, I believe, means choice of what we hold to be good."

From The Meaning of Good—A Dialogue by G. Lowes (Goldsworthy Lowes) Dickinson

The development of such delirium annihilates, so to speak, the entire personality of the subject, and his entire mental life is invaded by abnormal extra and introspection—the delirium commands and systematizes all acquired impressions.

From Pathology of Lying, accusation, and swindling: a study in forensic psychology by William Healy

This book so condenses and systematizes general military instruction and the work done at Plattsburg so that it may be easily utilized in training other troops.

From Military Instructors Manual by Oliver Schoonmaker

“In general, at the studios, they systematized the production design, so that it was fast,” Kanjo said, describing the rigid process as militaristic.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 26, 2026

When such state threats are systematized, they can foment a broader climate of fear, self-censorship and conformity.

From Salon May 28, 2026

As industrialization boomed across the world, time became standardized and systematized to meet the deadlines of false daylight.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 17, 2026

Aristotle systematized Plato’s conception of ethics based upon his conception of the self and his four causes.

From Textbooks Jun. 15, 2022

Chapter 1, like Chapter 3, had not actually told him anything that he did not know; it had merely systematized the knowledge that he possessed already.

From "1984" by George Orwell

“We are systematizing a lot of things,” Capt. Yoshihiro Iwata, 44, said when the frigate was docked recently in Sasebo, in southwestern Japan.

From New York Times Dec. 13, 2023

I think about, “How do I create these businesses so that they have great leadership? Am I doing enough mentoring or enough systematizing of my own brain?”

From The Verge Aug. 2, 2022

“Although with her departure a wealth of especially valuable empirical knowledge is lost in linguistic terms, the possibility of rescuing and systematizing the language remain open,” she said.

From Reuters Feb. 17, 2022

He is credited with revolutionizing the celebrity security industry, inventing methods to evaluate the likelihood of threats, and rigorously systematizing security protocols.

From Slate Feb. 8, 2019

So Athens became the center of a burgeoning rhetoric industry, and with that came an increasing interest in systematizing the art.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training