economy English · revision 2805

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1440|origins=grc οἰκονόμος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /iˈkɒn.ə.mi/, US /iˈkɑː.nə.mi/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|yconomye]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|frm|économie]], yconomie,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) or directly [[bor|la|oeconomia]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|οἰκονομία|tr=oikonomía|t=household management, thrift]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) from [[m|grc|οἰκονόμος|tr=oikonómos|t=manager, steward]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|grc|οἶκος|tr=oîkos|t=house]], from [[ine-pro|*weik-|t=clan]], and [[m|grc|νέμειν|tr=némein|t=to manage]], from [[ine-pro|*nem-|t=to assign, allot]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Greek oîkos is cognate with Latin vīcus and Old English wīc “dwelling, village”.^(Etymonline) In the 15th century the word was spelled oikonomy, and like [[ecology]] it comes from Greek oîkos.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The management of a household's economic affairs, in this case those of a monastery: 1440, in a work possibly composed that year.^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)^(Etymonline) The OED's first example of the art of managing a household is from about 1530,^(OED 1989) and Etymonline dates it to the 1530s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Greek word had not only the sense “management of a household” but also “thrift”, “administration”, “arrangement” and “public revenue of a state”,^(AHD 2000) and English took up several of these.^(AHD 2000) The management of the resources of a community or country is from 1651, in Hobbes' ''Leviathan'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1650s in Etymonline, short for ''political economy'';^(Etymonline) ''political economy'' itself (1767) translates French économie politique.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) Frugality, the careful use of resources, is from the 1660s,^(Etymonline) and even in the 1780s the American Founders generally used ''economy'' in this sense.^(Etymonline) The economic system of a country, now probably the most common sense, seems to have developed only in the 19th or 20th century.^(AHD 2000) As an adjective in advertising, “cheaper”, it is from 1821, and “larger and so cheaper per unit” from 1950;^(Etymonline) ''economy class'' in air travel is a 20th-century use.^(MWU 2024)^(AHD) ''Economic'' is from 1592 and ''economical'' from 1577.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Economical with the truth'', a euphemism for lying, dates from the mid-19th century.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1440 – management of a household's affairs.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1577 – ''economical''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1592 – ''economic''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1651 – management of a country's resources.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1660s – frugality.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1767 – ''political economy''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1821 – adjective, cheaper.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The system of [[production]], trade and [[consumption]] of goods and services in a country or region.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Careful management of resources so as to avoid waste; [[thrift]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A saving: ''economies of scale''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Efficient, sparing use or arrangement: ''economy of style''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The cheapest class of travel, especially on an aircraft.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Cheaper, or larger and so cheaper per unit: ''economy size''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[diseconomy]]

+ * [[economic]]

+ * [[economical]]

+ * [[economism]]

+ * [[economist]]

+ * [[economize]]

+ * [[subeconomy]]

+ * [[supereconomy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[economics]]

+ * [[macroeconomics]]

+ * [[microeconomics]]

+ * [[ecology]]

+ * [[ecumenical]]

+ * [[nomad]]

+ * [[vicinity]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}