Etymologically
Log in

economics

Etymology and origin of the English word economics

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1580s
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (οἶκος)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪks/, /ˌɛkəˈnɒmɪks/, US /ˌɛkəˈnɑmɪks/, /ˌikəˈnɑmɪks/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from economic and the plural ending -ics, perhaps after French économique,[2][3] originally on the pattern of Latin oeconomica and Greek ta oikonomiká, the title of a treatise by Aristotle.[3][4] The Greek word is from oikonómos “manager of a household”, from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”).[2] It is related to economy.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The art or science of managing a household, or a treatise on it: the 1580s in Etymonline, the late 16th century in SOED.[2][3] The HTOED dates this sense from 1535.[5]

Semantic evolution

The science of the production and distribution of wealth is from 1764 in the HTOED and 1792 in Etymonline, when it replaced the earlier political economy.[5][2] The management of private finances, and a person's financial position, is from 1851.[5][3] The financial side of a particular activity or project, with a plural verb, is from 1879.[5]

Timeline

  • 1580s – household management.[2]
  • 1764 – the science of wealth.[5]
  • 1851 – private finances.[5]
  • 1879 – financial aspects of something.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The social science that studies the production, distribution and use of goods and services.
  2. The financial side of something: the economics of the project.

Word family

  • Clintonomics
  • geoeconomics
  • macroeconomics
  • microeconomics
  • Reaganomics
  • socioeconomics
  • home economics
  • welfare economics

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
Cite this entry

“Economics.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/economics. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·