economy

英文詞源

economy

economy: [16] The underlying notion contained in the word economy is of ‘household management’. It comes, via French or Latin, from Greek oikonomíā, a derivative of oikonómos, a term for the ‘steward of a household’. This was a compound noun formed from oikos ‘house’ (a word related to the -wich element in many English place-names) and némein ‘manage’ (ultimate source of English antinomian and nomad).

The original sense ‘household management’ was carried through into English. It broadened out in the 17th century to the management of a nation’s resources (a concept at first termed more fully political economy), while the use of the derivative economics for the theoretical study of the creation and consumption of wealth dates from the early 19th century.
=> antinomian, ecology, nomad

economy (n.)

1530s, "household management," from Latin oeconomia (source of French économie, Spanish economia, German ?konomie, etc.), from Greek oikonomia "household management, thrift," from oikonomos "manager, steward," from oikos "house, abode, dwelling" (cognate with Latin vicus "district," vicinus "near;" Old English wic "dwelling, village;" see villa) + nomos "managing," from nemein "manage" (see numismatic). Meaning "frugality, judicious use of resources" is from 1660s. The sense of "wealth and resources of a country" (short for political economy) is from 1650s.

economy (adj.)

1821 as a term in advertising, at first meant simply "cheaper," then "bigger and thus cheaper per unit or amount" (1950). See economy (n.).