Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “economy” come from?

Economy derives from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία, combining οἶκος meaning household with νέμω meaning to manage or distribute and νόμος meaning law or custom.

economy (English): Effective management of a community or system, or...

Definitions

  1. Effective management of a community or system, or...

Ancestry of “economy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinoeconomiaThe management of household affairs; arrangement,...
2Ancient Greekοἰκονομίαthe management of a household or family,...
3Ancient Greekοἰκονόμοςone who manages a household, the master of the...
4Ancient Greekοἶκοςhouse or dwelling place; estate, inheritance;...
5Ancient Greek-λογίαBase for nouns denoting the study of something,...
6Ancient GreekλόγοςThat which is said: word, sentence, speech,...
7Ancient GreekλέγωI put in order, arrange, gather; I choose, count,...
8Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...

Words derived from “economy”

  • economics
  • macroeconomics
  • microeconomics
  • macroeconomy
  • economism
  • neuroeconomics
  • socioeconomics
  • economywide
  • pharmacoeconomics
  • bioeconomics
  • diseconomy
  • socioeconomy
  • geoeconomics
  • microeconomy
  • subeconomy
  • palaeoeconomy
  • economese
  • cybereconomy
  • agroeconomics
  • narcoeconomy
  • ineconomy
  • e-economy
  • countereconomics
  • œconomizing
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- →