See Also: Planned economy or command economy(finance)
New Economy(money)
New economy(finance)
economy(dictionary)
Old economy(finance)
new economy(dictionary)
old economy(dictionary)
economy(medicine)
stakeholder economy(dictionary)
shadow economy(dictionary)

economy (iou)



economy noun & adjective. Also (earlier) oeconomy. L15.
[Old & mod. French economie or Latin oeconomia from Greek oikonomia, from oikonomos manager of a household, steward, from oikos house: see -NOMY.]
A. noun.
I. Management.
The management or administration of the resources (freq. spec. financial resources) of a community or establishment; the art or science of managing material resources. L15.
black economy: see BLACK adjective. political economy the branch of economics that deals with the economic problems of government; arch. = ECONOMICS 2.
T. Pennant Rural ?conomy is but at a low ebb here. E. F. Benson It is better economy..to pay three-halfpence for an egg you can eat than a penny for one you can't.
a. Household management. M16-L17.
b. The manner of ordering a household or domestic etc. finances. arch. E18.
J. Priestley Impertinence..to watch over the ?conomy of private people.
The careful or sparing use of resources; frugality; the effecting of saving in a commodity etc. L17.
economy of scale: resulting from the greater efficiency of large-scale processes.
C. Darwin The economy shown by nature in her resources. J. Kosinski Splitting each match in halves for economy.
b. An instance or a means of reducing expenditure or saving. L18.
false economy: see FALSE adjective.
J. O'Hara What a foolish economy it is to save money on an orchestra. H. Macmillan Among the Government economies..was a further cut..in staff to Government Departments.
c. The cheapest class of some service or product, esp. of air travel. M20.
II. Constitution; economic system.
The constitution, organization, or structure of something; an ordered system. arch. (exc. as in sense 5 below). L16.
D. Hume With regard to the ?conomy of the mind..all vice is indeed pernicious. H. Davy Water is absolutely necessary to the economy of vegetation.
b. Physical arrangement or structure; layout. L17-M18.
Milton Such ?conomy or disposition of the fable as may stand best with..decorum.
The organization or ordered state of a community or nation as regards its (esp. material) resources and concerns; the (economic) condition of a State etc. M17.
mature economy: see MATURE adjective. MIXED economy. PLANNED economy. wage economy: see WAGE noun.
A. J. P. Taylor It seems that statesmen can do nothing right when the economy is going wrong. J. W. Krutch A pastoral or even a hunting economy capable of supporting the very small remaining population.
III. Theology.
The method of divine government of (an aspect or part of) the world; a system of this suited to particular circumstances. M17.
F. Myers Egyptian influence in the Mosaic Economy.
The presentation of doctrine or, by extension, 'truth', in such a way as to suit particular circumstances. Occas. in a bad sense (infl. by sense 3 etc.): discreditable reticence. L18.
transf.: Oxford English Dictionary I do not impute falsehood.., but I think there has been considerable economy of truth.
b. attrib. or as adjective. (Of a product) offering the customer the best value for money; of economy class, economy-sized (see below); designed to be economical to use. E19.
A. Thirkell She..licked the so-called economy label that was to take the envelope back to its sender.
Comb. & special collocations: economy class the cheapest class of air travel, hotel accommodation, etc.; economy-class syndrome, deep-vein thrombosis said to be caused by periods of prolonged immobility on long-haul flights; economy drive a campaign to make savings by reducing expenses; economy size a size (usu. the largest in a range) in which goods are sold as offering the customer the best value for money. economy-size, economy-sized adjectives of an economy size.
? Adjective rare before 20.