systematicsn.
/ˌsɪstᵻˈmatɪks/, U.S. /ˌsɪstəˈmædɪks/ Biology.
Originally: = taxonomy n. 1. Now: the branch of biological science concerned with taxonomy and also the study of phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships on which such classification is based.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > study > [noun] > systems of classification
systematics1879
the world > relative properties > order > [noun] > quality of being systematic > systematic arrangement > study of
systematics1879
1840 W. Whewell Philos. Inductive Sci. I. viii. ii. 468 A department of the philosophy of natural history which has been termed by some writers (as Decandolle) Taxonomy..by some Germans..has been denominated Systematik; if we could now form a new substantive after the analogy of the words Logic, Rhetoric, and the like, we might call it Systematick.]
1879 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 415 Absolute characters are in systematics the philosopher's stone.
1909 Q. Rev. July 14 Many hundreds of naturalists..devote their lives to systematics—to the study of the differences between species.
1951 G. H. M. Lawrence Taxon. Vascular Plants i. 3 In this text the taxonomy of vascular plants includes the systematics of the taxa known as pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms.
1969 E. Mayr Princ. Systematic Zool. p. vii Systematics has had a remarkable renaissance during the last generation.
2005 A. Burdick Out of Eden (2006) xviii. 247 To a non-taxonomist, the science of systematics is about as exciting a job track as stamp collecting.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1879