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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Economy ultimately comes from Greek oikos, “house,” and was spelled oikonomy in the 15th century. It originally meant the management of a household and its finances; in the 17th century its scope expanded to the financial management of a country.

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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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary