n.
Pronunciation: i- ' kä-n ə -m ē , ə -, ē -
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -mies
Etymology: Middle French yconomie, from Medieval Latin oeconomia, from Greek oikonomia, from oikonomos household manager, from oikos house + nemein to manage ― more at VICINITY , NIMBLE
Date: 15th century
1 archaic : the management of household or private affairs and especially expenses
2 a : thrifty and efficient use of material resources : frugality in expenditures also : an instance or a means of economizing : SAVING b : efficient and concise use of nonmaterial resources (as effort, language, or motion)
3 a : the arrangement or mode of operation of something : ORGANIZATION b : a system especially of interaction and exchange <an economy of information>
4 : the structure or conditions of economic life in a country, area, or period also : an economic system