economy

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromοἰκονομία“management of a household, administration”
2. Latin · derived fromoeconomia
3. Old French · derived fromyconomie
4. Middle English · inherited fromyconomye
5. English todayeconomy

From Middle English yconomye, yconomy, borrowed via Old French yconomie or Medieval Latin from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “management of a household, administration”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + νέμω (némō, “distribute, allocate”). By surface analysis, eco- + -nomy. The first recorded sense of the word economy, found in a work possibly composed in 1440, is “the management of economic affairs”, in this case, of a monastery.