A System

1. A collection of organized things; a whole composed of relationships among its members. [from early 17th c.]

Synonyms: arrangement, complex, composition, organization, set up, structure

• (derogatory) Preceded by the word the: the mainstream culture, controlled by the elites or government of a state, or a combination of them, seen as oppressive to the individual.
• (computing) A set of hardware and software operating in a computer.
• (mathematics) A set of equations involving the same variables, which are to be solved simultaneously.
• (music) A set of staves linked by a brace that indicate instruments or sounds that are to be played simultaneously.
• (physiology) A set of body organs having a particular function.
• (psychiatry) A set of alters, or the multiple (“the individual with multiple personalities due to, for example, a dissociative personality disorder”) who contains them.

2. A method or way of organizing or planning.

In attributive use, especially relating to computer systems, the plural is more common than the singular; one normally speaks of a systems engineer and not a system engineer.