economy

UK: /ɪˈkɒnəmi/ US: /ɪˈkɑnəmi/ ,(i kon′ə mē)

Inflections of 'economy' (n): npl: economies

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

e•con•o•my /ɪˈkɑnəmi/   n., pl. -mies. 

1. Business [uncountable] thrifty management;
   wise care in the saving, spending, or using of money, materials, etc.
2. Business [countable] an act or means of such care:
   Walking to work is one of my economies.
3. Business [countable] the management of the resources of a community, country, etc., esp. with a view to its productivity.

See -nom-¹. Related Words

economy is a noun, economics is a noun, economical is an adjective, economize is a verb:
The economy is improving. Economics is a hard subject. They bought an economical car. They need to economize on fuel.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

e•con•o•my  (i kon′ə mē), n., pl. -mies, adj., adv. 
n. 

1. Business thrifty management;
   frugality in the expenditure or consumption of money, materials, etc.
2. Business an act or means of thrifty saving;
   a saving:
   He achieved a small economy by walking to work instead of taking a bus.
3. Business the management of the resources of a community, country, etc., esp. with a view to its productivity.
4. Business the prosperity or earnings of a place:
   Further inflation would endanger the national economy seriously.
5. Business the disposition or regulation of the parts or functions of any organic whole;
   an organized system or method.
6. Business the efficient, sparing, or concise use of something:
   an economy of effort; an economy of movement.
7. Business See economy class. 
8. Religion [Theol.]
   • the divine plan for humanity, from creation through redemption to final beatitude.
   • the method of divine administration, as at a particular time or for a particular race.
9. [Obs.] the management of household affairs.

adj. 

10. intended to save money:
    to reduce the staff in an economy move.
11. costing less to make, buy, or operate:
    an economy car.
12. of or pertaining to economy class:
    the economy fare to San Francisco.

adv. 

13. in economy-class accommodations, or by economy-class conveyance:
    to travel economy.

• Greek oikonomíā household management, equivalent. to oîko(s) house + -nomia -nomy
• Latin oeconomia
• Middle French economie)
• (1520–30

Synonyms

• 1. thriftiness, thrift, saving.

Antonyms

• 1. lavishness, extravagance, wastefulness.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

economy / ɪˈkɒnəmɪ/ noun ( -mies)

1. careful management of resources to avoid unnecessary expenditure or waste; thrift
2. a means or instance of this; saving
3. sparing, restrained, or efficient use, esp to achieve the maximum effect for the minimum effort: economy of language
4. the complex of human activities concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services
5. a particular type or branch of such production, distribution, and consumption: a socialist economy, an agricultural economy
6. the management of the resources, finances, income, and expenditure of a community, business enterprise, etc
7. a class of travel in aircraft, providing less luxurious accommodation than first class at a lower fare
8. (as modifier): economy class
9. (modifier) offering or purporting to offer a larger quantity for a lower price: economy pack
10. the orderly interplay between the parts of a system or structure: the economy of nature
11. the principle that, of two competing theories, the one with less ontological presupposition is to be preferred
12. the management of household affairs; domestic economy

Etymology: 16th Century: via Latin from Greek oikonomia domestic management, from oikos house + -nomia, from nemein to manage