economic

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌiː.kəˈnɒm.ɪk/, /ˌek.əˈnɒm.ɪk/, US /ˌiː.kəˈnɑː.mɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French économique or directly borrowed from Latin oeconomicus (“of domestic economy; orderly”),^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek οἰκονομικός (oikonomikós, “skilled in managing a household; frugal”),^[2][5] also the title of Xenophon's treatise on household management,^[2] from οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “household management”),^[2][6] the source of economy, from οἰκονόμος (oikonómos, “steward”).^[5][3] Etymonline suggests it may partly be shortened from economical.^[2] The SOED records an obsolete noun oeconomic, “household management”, from late Middle English.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pertaining to the management of a household or private income: 1592,^[7][8] or the 1590s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “frugal, thrifty” developed from the household meaning,^[2] but is now kept by economical.^[2] Relating to national resources is from 1815,^[9] and relating to the science of economics from 1835, now the main sense.^[2][7] “Maintained for profit” is from 1854, and “practical, utilitarian”, as in economic botany, from 1861.^[7] Economic man and economic rent are from 1889.^[7]

Timeline

• 1592 – relating to household finances.^[7][8]
• 1815 – relating to national resources.^[9]
• 1835 – relating to economics.^[2][7]
• 1854 – run for profit.^[7]
• 1889 – economic man.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Relating to the production, development and management of material wealth.
2. Relating to an economy or to the science of economics.
3. Relating to the practical necessities of life; material.
4. Financially worthwhile; profitable.

Word family

• agro-economic
• antieconomic
• economical
• economics
• noneconomic
• subeconomic
• uneconomic
• economic determinism

Related words

• economize
• economise
• economy
• ecology
• ecumenical

Usage notes

Economic now usually relates to the economy or economics, while economical keeps the older sense “thrifty”.^[2]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)