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Etymology and origin of the English word economize

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1649 Milton, The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek οἰκονομία
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos)
Ancient Greek οἰκονόμος (oikonómos)
Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomíā)
Latin oeconomia
English economy
English economize
The word's journey
From the same root
Ancient Greek οἰκία (oikíā) ← οἶκος
Ancient Greek οἶκόνδε (oîkónde) ← οἶκος
Ancient Greek πάροικος (pároikos) ← οἶκος
Ancient Greek οἰκονομικός (oikonomikós) ← οἰκονόμος
English economist ← economy

Pronunciation

  • UK: /iˈkɒnəmaɪz/[1]
  • US: /iˈkɑnəmaɪz/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English economy + -ize.[2][3][4][5] The OED compares French économiser, recorded from 1718 for managing with economy and since 1747 for making savings.[2] Economy goes back through Latin oeconomia to Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “household management”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “house”).[3][1] An earlier spelling was “oeconomize”,[6] and “economise” is the British spelling.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To manage a household: 1649, in Milton's The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, a rare and obsolete use.[2] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1640s,[3] and Dictionary.com the word to 1640–50.[5]

Semantic evolution

The word first followed the old sense of economy, household management.[2][3] From 1691 to 1784 it could also mean to manage or organize something, especially of divine dispensation.[2][6] The modern sense, to reduce spending, appears in 1780, in a speech by Burke;[2] Etymonline has it from 1790, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged has 1816 for the intransitive sense.[3][4] French has this sense from 1747.[2] A transitive use, to use sparingly, follows in 1785, and the construction with in or on in 1843, in a letter of J. W. Carlyle.[2][6] In 1828 J. S. Mill used it for turning a resource to the best account, a sense now rare.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 1649 – to manage a household (obsolete).[2][6]
  • 1691 – to manage, organize (obsolete by 1784).[2]
  • 1780 – to reduce expenditure, make savings.[2] Etymonline dates it to 1790.[3]
  • 1785 – to use sparingly, make a saving in.[2]
  • 1828 – to make productive use of, turn to account.[2]
  • 1843 – with in or on, to save on a commodity.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To spend less or avoid waste; to practise economy: The family economized by cooking at home.[7][4][2]
  2. With on or in, to use less of a particular thing: We economized on heating oil.[7][4][2]
  3. To use something sparingly or save on it: a stove that economizes fuel.[4][2][6]
  4. (rare) To turn something to productive use.[4][2][6]
  5. (obsolete, 1649) To manage a household.[2][6]
  6. (obsolete, 1691–1784) To manage or organize.[2][6]

Word family

  • economizer
  • uneconomizing
  • economization

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Economize.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/economize. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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