Basic Details
Word: Systematize
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: To arrange things according to a fixed plan or system so that they are orderly and easy to use.
Synonyms: organise, arrange, classify, order
Antonyms: disorganise, jumble
How to Spell Systematize
Syllables: sys - tem - a - tize
Tricky part: System keeps its e, then comes a, then tize. Students write systemetize or sistematize. Systematise, with s, is also correct in British English.
Watch out for: systemetize, sistematize, systamatize, systematiz
Memory tip: Build it in steps: system, systematic, systematize. Keep system whole, add a, and finish with the tize of the -ize spelling.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The new clerk wants to systematize the office files by date.
Example 2: Scientists systematize plants and animals into groups.
Example 3: If we systematize our revision, we will finish the syllabus before the exams.
Fun Fact
The Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus systematized the naming of living things in the 1700s, giving each a two-part Latin name such as Panthera tigris.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
syst_m_t_ze
a) e, a, i
b) e, a, e
c) a, a, i
d) e, e, i
Show answer
a) e, a, i. System, then a, then tize: the three gaps are e, a and i.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the meaning of the correctly spelt word:
1. catagory 2. arrangment 3. organisaton 4. systematize
a) a group of things that share a feature
b) the way things are placed
c) a group of people working together
d) to arrange things by a fixed plan
Show answer
d) to arrange things by a fixed plan. Organisation needs an i before on, category has e after t, and arrangement keeps the e of arrange.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word 'systematize' as used in the sentence:
Our school librarian plans to systematize the old books by subject and author.
a) scatter
b) organise
c) borrow
d) ignore
Show answer
b) organise. To systematize is to put in order, which is what organise means; scatter is the opposite.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Systematize and systematise are ____.
a) two words with opposite meanings
b) a noun and an adjective
c) two correct spellings of one word
d) both misspellings
Show answer
c) two correct spellings of one word
2. Which word is the adjective in the family of systematize?
a) system
b) systematizer
c) systematically
d) systematic
Show answer
d) systematic
