English
economic
Economic comes from Middle English economike.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English economic
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1714, 1599, John Davies: “And doth employ her Oeconomick Art, and buisy Care,…”.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500economikeWiktionary, English economic
- Englishearliest quotation 1714economicWiktionary, English economic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1714, 1599, John Davies: “And doth employ her Oeconomick Art, and buisy Care,…”
The story
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.
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Today it means
adj Pertaining to an economy.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “economic”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Middle English economike / economic