In this article, we examine the polysemy of the term "system" in Sociology, with the purpose of showing that the communication process, inescapable in scientific practice, weakens and, sometimes is even impeded, if the terms employed are taken out of the theoretical and epistemological orientations of the author. We believe that polysemy, a phenomenon of habitual occurrence in everyday life, has its negative effects amplified when considered in relation to terms that, in the argumentative context, have the status of concepts. The use of a word does not, in itself, guarantee intersubjective sharing of its meaning and might result in the production of meanings which were not intended by those who seek to communicate. On the other hand, the search for a univocal, unambiguous, clear-cut meaning for terms that operate significant abstractions in the Social Sciences seems unlikely, if not impossible.
Sociological theory; Systems; Polysemy.