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Webster 1913 Edition

economy

e-con′o-my

(ē̍-kŏn′ō̍-my̆)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Economies
(ē̍-kŏn′ō̍-mĭz)
.
[F.
économie
, L.
oeconomia
household management, fr. Gr.
οἰκονομία
, fr.
οἰκονόμοσ
one managing a household;
οἶκοσ
house (akin to L.
vicus
village, E.
vicinity
) +
νόμοσ
usage, law, rule, fr.
νέμειν
to distribute, manage. See
Vicinity
,
Nomad
.]
1.
The management of domestic affairs; the regulation and government of household matters; especially as they concern expense or disbursement;
as, a careful
economy
.
Himself busy in charge of the household
economies
.
Froude.
2.
Orderly arrangement and management of the internal affairs of a state or of any establishment kept up by production and consumption; esp., such management as directly concerns wealth;
as, political
economy
.
3.
The system of rules and regulations by which anything is managed; orderly system of regulating the distribution and uses of parts, conceived as the result of wise and economical adaptation in the author, whether human or divine;
as, the animal or vegetable
economy
; the
economy
of a poem; the Jewish
economy
.
The position which they [the verb and adjective] hold in the general
economy
of language.
Earle.
In the Greek poets, as also in Plautus, we shall see the
economy
. . . of poems better observed than in Terence.
B. Jonson.
The Jews already had a Sabbath, which, as citizens and subjects of that
economy
, they were obliged to keep.
Paley.
4.
Thrifty and frugal housekeeping; management without loss or waste; frugality in expenditure; prudence and disposition to save;
as, a housekeeper accustomed to
economy
but not to parsimony
.
Syn. –
Economy
,
Frugality
,
Parsimony
. Economy avoids all waste and extravagance, and applies money to the best advantage; frugality cuts off indulgences, and proceeds on a system of saving. The latter conveys the idea of not using or spending superfluously, and is opposed to lavishness or profusion. Frugality is usually applied to matters of consumption, and commonly points to simplicity of manners; parsimony is frugality carried to an extreme, involving meanness of spirit, and a sordid mode of living. Economy is a virtue, and parsimony a vice.
I have no other notion of
economy
than that it is the parent to liberty and ease.
Swift.
The father was more given to
frugality
, and the son to riotousness [luxuriousness].
Golding.

Webster 1828 Edition

Economy

ECON'OMY

,
Noun.
[L. oeconomia; Gr. house, and law, rule.]
1.
Primarily, the management, regulation and government of a family or the concerns of a household.
2.
The management of pecuniary concerns or the expenditure of money. Hence,
3.
A frugal and judicious use of money; that management which expends money to advantage,and incurs no waste; frugality in the necessary expenditure of money. It differs from parsimony, which implies an improper saving of expense. Economy includes also a prudent management of all the means by which property is saved or accumulated; a judicious application of time, of labor, and of the instruments of labor.
4.
The disposition or arrangement of any work; as the economy of a poem.
5.
A system of rules, regulations, rites and ceremonies; as the Jewish economy.
6.
The regular operation of nature in the generation, nutrition and preservation of animals or plants; as animal economy; vegetable economy.
7.
Distribution or due order of things.
8.
Judicious and frugal management of public affairs; as political economy.
9.
System of management; general regulation and disposition of the affairs of a state or nation, or of any department of government.

Definition 2024

economy

economy

See also: e-conomy

English

Alternative forms

Noun

economy ‎(plural economies)

  1. Effective management of the resources of a community or system.
  2. Collective focus of the study of money, currency and trade, and the efficient use of resources.
  3. Frugal use of resources.
    • Jonathan Swift
      I have no other notion of economy than that it is the parent to liberty and ease.
  4. The system of production and distribution and consumption. The overall measure of a currency system; as the national economy.
    • 2013 August 31, “Horns of a trilemma”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8851:
      An economy open to free movement of capital can keep a fixed exchange rate, for example, only by subjugating monetary-policy goals to its defence—by raising interest rates sharply, say, when capital outflows put downward pressure on the currency. Yet the trilemma also implies that an economy can enjoy both free capital flows and an independent monetary policy, so long as it gives up worrying about its exchange rate.
  5. (theology) The method of divine government of the world.
  6. (archaic) Management of one’s residency.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

economy ‎(not comparable)

  1. Cheap to run; using minimal resources; representing good value for money.
    "He bought an economy car."
    "Economy size".

Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία ‎(oikonomía, “management of a household, administration”), from οἶκος ‎(oîkos, “house”) + νόμος ‎(nómos, “law”) (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.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /iˈkɒn.ə.mi/
  • (US) enPR: ĕ'kô'nô'mĕ IPA(key): /iˈkɒːn.ə.miː/
  • Rhymes: -ɒnəmi

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