in general, denotes an assemblage or chain of principles and conclusions, or the whole of any doctrine, the several parts whereof are bound together, and follow or depend on each other; in which sense we say a system of philosophy, a system of divinity, &c. The word is formed from the Greek σύστημα “composition, compages.”
the animal economy, the vascular, the nervous, and the cellular. See ANATOMY.
music, an assemblage of the rules for harmony, deduced from some common principle by which they are reunited; by which their connection one with another is formed; from whence, as from their genuine source, they natively flow; and to which, if we would account for them, we must have recourse. See the articles CHROMATIC, DIATONIC. T, or t, the 19th letter and 16th consonant of our alphabet; the sound whereof is formed by a strong expulsion of the breath through the mouth, upon a sudden drawing back of the tongue from the fore-part of the palate, with the lips at the same time open. The proper sound of t is expressed in most words beginning or ending with that letter; as in take, tell, hot, put. Ti before a vowel has the sound of j, or rather of j, as in creation, except when j precedes, as in question; and in derivatives from words ending in ty, as, mighty, mightier. Th has two sounds; the one soft, as thou, father; the other hard, as thing, think. The sound is lost in these words, then, thence, and there, with their derivatives and compounds; and in the words that, this, thus, thy, they, though; and in all words in which th comes between two vowels, as, whether, rather; and between r and a vowel, as burthen.
In abbreviations, amongst the Roman writers, T. stands for Titus, Titius, &c.; Tab. for Tabularius; iab. P. H. C. Tabularius Provinciae Hispaniae Citerioris; Tar. Quintinius; Ti. Tiberius; Ti. F. Tiberii filius; Ti. L. Tiberii libertus; Ti. N. Tiberii Nepos; T. J. A. V. P. V. D. tempore judicium arbitrorumque pugnatur ut det; T. M. P. terminum pugnat; T'. M. D. D. terminum deducit; Tr. trans, tribunus; Tr. M. or Mil. tribunus milites; TR. PL. DES. tribunus plebis desinantur; TR. AER. tribunus aerarii; TRV. CAP. triumvir capitales; T. P. or TRIB. POT. tribunicia potestate; Tul. H. Tullius Hofilius.
Amongst the ancients, T. as a numeral, stood for one hundred and sixty; and with a dash at top, thus, T, it signified one hundred and sixty thousand. In music, T stands for tutti, "all, or altogether."