Jump to content

economics

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: econòmics

English

[edit]
WOTD – 9 March 2026

Etymology

[edit]

From economic (noun) (obsolete) +‎ -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum, and regular plural forms of nouns).[1] Economic is derived from Middle English economike, iconomique (“household management”),[2] and then:

from οἰκονόμος (oikonómos, “master of a house; household manager, steward; administrator, manager”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives).[3] Οἰκονόμος (Oikonómos) is derived from οἶκος (oîkos, “dwelling place, house; estate”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ- (“(verb) to enter in; to settle; (noun) settlement”)) + νόμος (nómos, “law, ordinance”) (from νέμω (némō, “to distribute; to possess”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to distribute; to give; to take”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming o-grade action nouns from verbs)). By surface analysis, econom(y) +‎ -ics (suffix forming nouns denoting fields of knowledge or practice).

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

economics sg or pl

  2. (dated) Now chiefly home economics: the art or science of household management, especially relating to the appropriate organization of resources; housekeeping.
    Synonyms: domestic arts; domestic science, domestic sciences; (obsolete) economic; homemaking; household arts; (archaic) householdry
    • 1661, Joseph Glanvill, chapter XVII, in The Vanity of Dogmatizing: Or Confidence in Opinions. […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC, page 166:
      Thus Logick, Phyſicks, Metaphyſicks, are the burden of Volumes, and the dayly entertainment of the Diſputing Schools: vvhile the more profitable doctrines of the Heavens, Meteors, Minerals, Animals; as alſo the more practical ones of Politicks, and Oeconomicks, are ſcarce ſo much as glanc'd at.
    • 1851, Thomas Carlyle, “Literature: The Sterling Club”, in The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, part II, page 208:
      [H]e now furthermore contrived the scheme of a little Club, where monthly over a frugal dinner some reunion might take place; […] The scheme was approved by the persons concerned: I have a copy of the Original Regulations, probably drawn up by Sterling, a very solid lucid piece of economics; […]
      Used to mean management of the club.
    1. Management of household finances; also, the financial situation of a household.
      • 1851, Thomas Carlyle, “Universities: Glasgow; Cambridge”, in The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, part I, page 41:
        Being now turned of sixteen, and the family economics getting yearly more propitious and flourishing, he, as his brother had already been, was sent to Glasgow University, in which city their Mother had connexions.
  4. (by extension, social sciences) The study of resource and wealth allocation, consumption, and distribution, of capital and investment, and of management of the factors of production.
    Synonyms: (derogatory or humorous) dismal science, (archaic) political economy; see also Thesaurus:economics
    Mary studied economics for five years before going into banking.
    • 1799 April, “[Appendix.] Occasional retrospect of foreign literature. France.”, in The Critical Review; or, Annals of Literature; […], volume XXV (New Arrangement), London: […] S. Hamilton, […], →OCLC, page 566:
      The Annals of the French Republic, from the Eſtabliſhment of the Conſtitution of the third Year, 6 vols. 8vo.— […] In the fourth [volume] are military pieces; in the fifth and ſixth, various literary intelligence, and memoranda reſpecting commerce, œconomics, &c. may be found.
    • 1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay VII. Prudence.”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 188:
      [L]et him accept and hive every fact of chemistry, natural history, and economics; the more he has, the less is he willing to spare any one.
    • 1930, John Maynard Keynes, “Problems of Supernational Management”, in A Treatise on Money […], volume II (The Applied Theory of Money), London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, book VII (The Management of Money), page 406:
      But it is characteristic of economics that valuable and interesting work may be performed and steady progress made for many years, and yet that the results will be almost useless for practical purposes until a certain degree of exactness and perfection has been reached. Half-baked theory is not of much value in practice, though it may be half-way towards final perfection.
    • 2013 August 3, “Boundary problems: America has changed the way it measures GDP”, in The Economist‎[1], volume 408, number 8847, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 March 2023:
      Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists' most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.
    • 2013 August 31, “Horns of a trilemma”, in The Economist‎[2], volume 408, number 8851, archived from the original on 12 March 2023:
      Mainstream economics is increasingly sympathetic. In late 2012 the International Monetary Fund updated its institutional view on capital controls, noting that more financially open economies did worse in the crisis of 2007-09.
    1. Chiefly with a descriptive word: the application of this study to a particular domain.
      rural economics
      • 1930, John Maynard Keynes, “Historical Illustrations”, in A Treatise on Money […], volume II (The Applied Theory of Money), London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, book VI (The Rate of Investment and Its Fluctuations), page 198:
        [T]he extraordinary thing is that the "Gibson Paradox"—as we may fairly call it—is one of the most completely established empirical facts within the whole field of quantitative economics, though theoretical economists have mostly ignored it.
    2. The financial situation of a nation, state, etc.
      • 1839 (indicated as 1840), Thomas Carlyle, “Finest Peasantry in the World”, in Chartism, London: James Fraser, […], →OCLC, page 26:
        [T]he oppression has gone far farther than into the economics of Ireland; inwards to her very heart and soul. The Irish National character is degraded, disordered; till this recover itself, nothing is yet recovered.
      • 1844, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter III, in Coningsby; or, The New Generation. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book III, pages 282–283:
        He assured his father that it would never be well for England until this order of the Peasantry was restored to its pristine condition; […] to its condition in all those moral attributes, which make a recognised rank in a nation; and which in a great degree, are independent of economics; manners, customs, ceremonies, rights, and privileges.
    3. (with plural agreement) Chiefly followed by of: the financial aspects of an activity, enterprise, etc.
      The economics of running a restaurant are not easy to get right.

Usage notes

[edit]

As a discipline, economics is now overwhelmingly treated as a singular noun, and plural usage is now restricted to the sense of financial aspects of an activity. It was formerly treated as a plural noun in other senses as well, but such usage is now dated.

  • 1969, Kenneth Clark, “The Light of Experience”, in Civilisation:
    I don't say much about economics in this programme, chiefly because I don't understand them, and perhaps for that reason believe that their importance has been overrated by post-Marxist historians.

Alternative forms

[edit]

Holonyms

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Translations

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

economics

  1. (obsolete) plural of economic (“one who is skilled in household management; (Christianity, historical) one who manages the income of a vacant benefice”).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ “economics, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2024; “economics, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “īconomique, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ “economic, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2025; “economic, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

[edit]

Anagrams

[edit]

Ladin

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

economics

  1. masculine plural of economich

Occitan

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

economics

  1. masculine plural of economic
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=economics&oldid=89967895"