Economy is defined as the management of financial matters for a community, business or family.


An example of economy is the stock market system in the United States.

The definition of economy is inexpensive.


An example of economy is a low priced car that gets excellent mileage on a gallon of gas.


See economy in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun pl. economies

  1. the management of the income, expenditures, etc. of a household, business, community, or government
    1. careful management of wealth, resources, etc.; avoidance of waste by careful planning and use; thrift or thrifty use
    2. restrained or efficient use of one's materials, technique, etc., esp. by an artist
    3. an instance of such management or use, or a way of economizing
  2. an orderly management or arrangement of parts; organization or system: the economy of the human body
    1. a system of producing, distributing, and consuming wealth
    2. the condition of such a system: a healthy economy

Origin: L oeconomia < Gr oikonomia, management of a household or state, public revenue < oikonomos, manager < oikos, house (see eco-) + -nomia, -nomy


  1. costing less than the standard or traditional kind: an economy car, an economy flight
  2. providing more of a product at a lower unit price: an economy package

See economy in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. e·con·o·mies
    b. A specific type of economic system: an industrial economy; a planned economy.
  3. An orderly, functional arrangement of parts; an organized system: “the sense that there is a moral economy in the world, that good is rewarded and evil is punished” (George F. Will).
  4. Efficient, sparing, or conservative use: wrote with an economy of language.
  6. Theology The method of God's government of and activity within the world.


Origin: Middle English yconomye, management of a household

Origin: , from Latin oeconomia

Origin: , from Greek oikonomiā

Origin: , from oikonomos, manager of a household

Origin: : oikos, house; see weik-1 in Indo-European roots

Origin: + nemein, to allot, manage; see nem- in Indo-European roots


Word History: Managing an economy has at least an etymological justification. The word economy can be traced back to the Greek word oikonomos, “one who manages a household,” derived from oikos, “house,” and nemein, “to manage.” From oikonomos was derived oikonomiā, which had not only the sense “management of a household or family” but also senses such as “thrift,” “direction,” “administration,” “arrangement,” and “public revenue of a state.” The first recorded sense of our word economy, found in a work possibly composed in 1440, is “the management of economic affairs,” in this case, of a monastery. Economy is later recorded in other senses shared by oikonomiā in Greek, including “thrift” and “administration.” What is probably our most frequently used current sense, “the economic system of a country or an area,” seems not to have developed until the 19th or 20th century.

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