system
sys·tem/ˈsɪstəm/noun
system is spelled S-Y-S-T-E-M, 2 syllables: sys·tem. The wrong spelling people search most is sistem: about 110 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 114 of all searches for the word. System is a noun meaning “A group or set of related things that operate together as a complex whole”. The plural of system is systems or π-systems.
How many letters and syllables are in system?
| Letters | 6: S-Y-S-T-E-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: sys·tem |
| In writing | 363 times per million words; the 250th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 3; the most searched, sistem, about 110 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell system?
System is spelled S-Y-S-T-E-M. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 55 of the searches for system in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is system?
System appears 363 times per million words in written English, the 250th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce system?
- /ˈsɪstəm/
System has 2 syllables, split sys·tem in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-system.wav, En-us-system.ogg, En-au-system.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of system
- systems plural
- π-systems plural
- pi-system
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does system mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A group or set of related things that operate together as a complex whole.
- 2
A set of hardware and software operating in a computer.
- 3
A set of equations involving the same variables, which are to be solved simultaneously.
- 4
A set of staves linked by a brace that indicate instruments or sounds that are to be played simultaneously.
- 5
A set of body organs having a particular function.
the digestive system the nervous system
- 6
A set of alters of a person, or the multiple (“an individual with multiple personalities”) who contains them.
- 7
A system in which two or more objects are bound to each other by gravity.
There are eight planets in the solar system.
- 8
A comprehensive and logically organized set of propositions or philosophical beliefs.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate system?
Wiktionary records 4 abbreviations of system: Sys., sys, syst, syst..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
System in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | système , π-système, pi-système |
| German | System, Ordnung, Verbund , π-System , Akkolade |
| Portuguese | sistema |
| Spanish | sistema |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.