Definition of "systemic" []

• Of or relating to systems or a system. (adjective)
• Relating to or affecting the entire body or an entire organism: systemic symptoms; a systemic poison. (adjective)
• Relating to or affecting a particular body system, especially the nervous system: a systemic lesion. (adjective)
• Physiology Of or relating to systemic circulation. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In his latest weekly column, Wolf doesn't actually use the term "systemic risk," but everything he says points in that direction."
• "In 1895, a renowned physician, Sir William Osier, recognized that some forms of lupus involved more than just a rash and actually affected internal organs, and he added the word systemic to the name."
• "—A Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania attorney general Thursday will propose ways of fixing what he calls a systemic failure to protect children from sexual abusers in the state."