Meanings
homo economicus1
- alternativeuncountableAlternative form of Homo economicus.
Homo economicus2
alternative homo economicus · alternative homo oeconomicus
- economicsA human being regarded as a rational and narrowly self-interested actor capable of making judgments in order to attain its own particular goals.
Synonyms: economic human, economic man
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA human being regarded as a rational and narrowly self-interested actor capable of making judgments in order to attain its own particular goals.
Origin
A pseudotaxonomic name, by analogy with Homo sapiens. The earlier term economic man was used for the first time in the late nineteenth century by critics of John Stuart Mill's work on political economy.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Homo oeconomicus, rationaler Agent
- Homo oeconomicushuman being
- rationaler Agenthuman being
Italian homo oeconomicus
- homo oeconomicushuman being
Polish homo oeconomicus
- homo oeconomicushuman being
Vietnamese con người kinh tế
- con người kinh tếhuman being
Cite this entry
homo economicus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homo%20economicus
“homo economicus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homo%20economicus. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “homo economicus,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homo%20economicus.
Source: homo economicus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.