economic

eco·nom·ic
E1C3O1N1O1M3I1C3
UK/ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪk/UK/ˌɛ-/Canadian, US, dialectal/ˌɛkəˈnɑmɪk/Canadian, US, dialectal/ˌi-/

adjective

Pertaining to an economy.

Very commonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectiveeconomic (comparative more economic, superlative most economic)

comparative more economic · superlative most economic · alternative economick · alternative œconomic · alternative œconomick

  1. Pertaining to an economy.

    There is much talk of tyranny in the political realm, but little is said about the tyrannies in the economic realm, a primary one being the tyranny of high costs: high costs crush the economy from within and enslave those attempting to start enterprises or keep their businesses afloat.

    2021 January 7, Charles Hugh Smith, The Tyranny Nobody Talks About, archived from the original on 20 May 2022
    1 more example

    Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.

    2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023
  2. Frugal; cheap (in the sense of representing good value); economical.

    Synonyms: penny-pinching, thrifty, bargainous, low-cost, abstemious, canny, chary, moderate

  3. Pertaining to the study of money and its movement.
  4. obsoletePertaining to the management of a household

    And doth employ her Oeconomick Art, and buisy Care, her Houshold to preserve

    1714 [1599], John Davies, edited by Nahum Tate, The Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul, 2nd edition, London: Hammond Banks, page 64
nouneconomic (countable and uncountable, plural economics)

plural economics

  1. obsoleteuncountableThe art or science of household management, especially relating to the appropriate organization of resources; housekeeping.

    Synonyms: economics, home economics

  2. countableobsoleterareuncountableOne who is skilled in household management.
  3. countablehistoricalobsoleteuncountableChristianityOne who manages the income of a vacant benefice.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe art or science of household management, especially relating to the appropriate organization of resources; housekeeping.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveof or relating to an economy, the system of production and management of material wealth

Similar

adjectiveusing the minimum of time or resources necessary for effectiveness

adjectiveconcerned with worldly necessities of life (especially money)

adjectivefinancially rewarding

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wóyḱos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*wóikos
  4. Ancient Greekϝοῖκος (woîkos)
  5. Ancient Greekοἶκος (oîkos)
  6. Proto-Indo-European*nem-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*németi
  8. Proto-Hellenic*némō
  9. Ancient Greekνέμω (némō)
  10. Ancient Greekνόμος (nómos)
  11. Ancient Greekοἰκονόμος (oikonómos)
  12. Ancient Greekοἰκονομικός (oikonomikós)
  13. Latinoeconomicus
  14. Old Frenchiconomike
  15. Middle Englishiconomique
  16. Middle Englisheconomike, iconomique
  17. Englisheconomic

The noun is derived from Middle English economike, iconomique (“household management”), and then: * from Middle French iconomique, oeconomique, and Old French iconomike (“(noun) household management; person in charge of household management; (adjective) relating to household management; relating to domestic or family matters; relating to management of a state; reducing costs or expenses, economical”) (modern French économique); and * from their etymon Latin oeconomicus (“(noun) household manager, housekeeper, steward; (adjective) relating to orderly arrangement of written material”) (whence Late Latin economicus (“relating to (management of) a household”)), and economica (“household management”), both from Ancient Greek οἰκονομῐκός (oikonomĭkós, “skilled in household management; frugal, thrifty, economical”) (whence Koine Greek οἰκονομῐκός (oikonomĭkós, “relating to orderly arrangement of written material”)); from οἰκονόμος (oikonómos, “master of a house; household manager, steward; administrator, manager”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). Οἰκονόμος (Oikonómos) is derived from οἶκος (oîkos, “dwelling place, house; estate”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ- (“(verb) to enter in; to settle; (noun) settlement”)) + νόμος (nómos, “law, ordinance”) (from νέμω (némō, “to distribute; to possess”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to distribute; to give; to take”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming o-grade action nouns from verbs)). Noun sense 2.2 (“one who manages the income of a vacant benefice”) is from Italian economo, from Late Latin oeconomus (“housekeeper, steward; administrator, especially of a religious foundation”), from Ancient Greek οἰκονόμος (oikonómos, “master of a house; household manager, steward; administrator, manager”): see above. The adjective is derived from the noun; compare the adjective senses in Middle and Old French, Latin, and Ancient Greek. By surface analysis, economy + -ic.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic اِقْتِصَادِيّ
  • اِقْتِصَادِيّ (iqtiṣādiyy)pertaining to an economy
Bengali আর্থিক
  • আর্থিক (arthik)pertaining to an economy
Brazilian Portuguese econômico, econômico
  • econômicopertaining to an economy
  • econômicocheap
Bulgarian икономи́чески, стопа́нски
  • икономи́чески (ikonomíčeski)pertaining to an economy
  • стопа́нски (stopánski)pertaining to an economy
  • икономичен (ikonomičen)cheap
  • рентабилен (rentabilen)cheap
Catalan econòmic, econòmic
  • econòmicpertaining to an economy
  • econòmicpertaining to the study of money
Chinese Mandarin 經濟 /经济
  • 經濟 /经济 (jīngjì)pertaining to an economy
Czech hospodářský, ekonomický
  • hospodářskýpertaining to an economy
  • ekonomickýcheap
  • ekonomickýpertaining to the study of money
Danish økonomisk
  • økonomiskpertaining to an economy
Dutch economisch
  • economischpertaining to an economy
Esperanto ekonomia
  • ekonomiapertaining to an economy
Estonian majanduslik
  • majanduslikpertaining to an economy
European Portuguese económico, económico
  • económicopertaining to an economy
  • económicocheap
Finnish kansantaloudellinen, taloudellinen
  • kansantaloudellinenpertaining to an economy
  • taloudellinencheap
  • talous-pertaining to the study of money
French économique, économique
  • économiquepertaining to an economy
  • économiquecheap
  • économiquepertaining to the study of money
German ökonomisch, Wirtschafts-
  • ökonomischpertaining to an economy
  • Wirtschafts-pertaining to an economy
  • sparsamcheap
  • günstigcheap
  • Wirtschafts-pertaining to the study of money
  • ökonomischpertaining to the study of money
Greek οικονομικός
  • οικονομικός (oikonomikós)pertaining to an economy
Hebrew כַּלְכָּלִי
  • כַּלְכָּלִי (kalkalí)pertaining to an economy
Hindi आर्थिक
  • आर्थिक (ārthik)pertaining to an economy
Hungarian gazdasági
  • gazdaságipertaining to an economy
Icelandic hagfræðilegur
  • hagfræðilegurpertaining to an economy
Irish eacnamaíoch, eacnamúil
  • eacnamaíochpertaining to an economy
  • eacnamúilpertaining to an economy
  • eacnamaíochcheap
  • eacnamúilcheap
  • eacnamaíochpertaining to the study of money
  • eacnamúilpertaining to the study of money
Italian economico, economico
  • economicopertaining to an economy
  • economicocheap
  • economocheap
  • economicopertaining to the study of money
Japanese 経済の, 経済的な
  • 経済の (keizai no)pertaining to an economy
  • 経済的な (keizaiteki na)pertaining to an economy
Korean 경제의
  • 경제의 (gyeongje-ui)pertaining to an economy
Latvian ekonomisks
  • ekonomiskspertaining to an economy
Lithuanian ekonominis
  • ekonominispertaining to an economy
Malay ekonomi
  • ekonomipertaining to an economy
Norwegian Bokmål økonomisk
  • økonomiskpertaining to an economy
Persian اقتصادی
  • اقتصادی (eqtesâdi)pertaining to an economy
Polish ekonomiczny, gospodarczy
  • ekonomicznypertaining to an economy
  • gospodarczypertaining to an economy
  • ekonomicznycheap
  • ekonomicznypertaining to the study of money
Romanian economic
  • economicpertaining to an economy
Russian экономи́ческий, хозя́йственный
  • экономи́ческий (ekonomíčeskij)pertaining to an economy
  • хозя́йственный (xozjájstvennyj)pertaining to an economy
Scottish Gaelic eagonomach, eagonomach
  • eagonomachpertaining to an economy
  • eagonomachcheap
  • eagonomachpertaining to the study of money
Slovak hospodársky
  • hospodárskypertaining to an economy
Spanish económico, económico
  • económicopertaining to an economy
  • económicocheap
  • económicopertaining to the study of money
Swahili kiuchumi
  • kiuchumipertaining to an economy
Swedish ekonomisk
  • ekonomiskpertaining to an economy
Tagalog agimatin
  • agimatinpertaining to an economy
Thai เศรษฐกิจ
  • เศรษฐกิจ (sèet-tà-gìt)pertaining to an economy
Turkish ekonomik, iktisadi
  • ekonomikpertaining to an economy
  • iktisadipertaining to an economy
Ukrainian економі́чний, господа́рський
  • економі́чний (ekonomíčnyj)pertaining to an economy
  • господа́рський (hospodársʹkyj)pertaining to an economy
Urdu مُعاشی, اِقْتِصادی
  • مُعاشی (mu'āśī)pertaining to an economy
  • اِقْتِصادی (iqtisādī)pertaining to an economy
Vietnamese kinh tế
  • kinh tếpertaining to an economy
Yiddish עקאָנאָמיש
  • עקאָנאָמיש (ekonomish)pertaining to an economy

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with economic

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

economic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/economic

MLA

“economic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/economic. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “economic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/economic.

Source: economic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.