economy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The system by which a country produces, sells, and uses goods, services, and money.

   The country's economy is growing faster than expected.

2. 2
   noun

   Careful use of money or resources so that nothing is wasted.

   For reasons of economy, they decided to share one car.

3. 3
   adj

   Cheap to use or buy; offering good value for money.

   They bought an economy car to save on fuel.

From Middle English yconomye, yconomy, borrowed via Old French [Term?] or Medieval Latin from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “management of a household, administration”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + νέμω (némō, “distribute, allocate”). By surface analysis, eco- + -nomy. The first recorded sense of the word economy, found in a work possibly composed in 1440, is “the management of economic affairs”, in this case, of a monastery.

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