Word
logistic
Phoneticslo·gis·tic
US/ɫəˈdʒɪstɪk/
UK/lədʒˈɪstɪk/
Definition
adj. relating to the planning and organization of a complex task or movement. You use this when talking about the practical details of moving people or goods.
adj. relating to the detailed coordination of a complex operation involving many people, facilities, or supplies. Often describes the practical management of a supply chain or large-scale event.
Examples
“The team faced several logistic challenges during the move.”
“Organizing a global conference requires solving various logistic problems, such as booking flights and arranging local transport for hundreds of guests.”
“The success of the relief mission depended on solving the logistic nightmare of delivering medical supplies to remote mountain villages with no paved roads.”
Examples
simple
“The team faced several logistic challenges during the move.”
contextual
“Organizing a global conference requires solving various logistic problems, such as booking flights and arranging local transport for hundreds of guests.”
complex
“The success of the relief mission depended on solving the logistic nightmare of delivering medical supplies to remote mountain villages with no paved roads.”
Usage
Commonly precedes nouns like 'support', 'problems', or 'challenges'.
Pitfall
the logistics problems
the logistic problems
While 'logistics' is the noun, the adjective form 'logistic' (or 'logistical') should modify the noun without the 's'.
Real-World Examples
“Russian online retailer Ozon said one of its logistic centres had been hit in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike.” Etymology
From French logistique, from Ancient Greek λογιστικός (logistikós, “practiced in arithmetic; rational”), from λογίζομαι (logízomai, “I reason, I calculate”), from λόγος (lógos, “reason, computation”), whence English logos, logic, logarithm, etc.; modern mathematical use influenced by related logarithmic. Sense of “logistic function” by Pierre François Verhulst (1845) in French, then borrowed into English. Verhulst does not explain his choice of naming, but he contrasts it with the logarithmic curve (also from λόγος (lógos)), and it is presumably by analogy with arithmetic and geometric (other divisions of mathematics), as his discussion of arithmetic growth and geometric growth precede his discussion of logistic growth. The term logistic and logistical also found occasional mathematical use in English prior to 1800, from the same Greek origin.
From French logistique, from loger (“to lodge”) or logis (“lodging place”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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englishreference.com/q/logistic