Word of the day · 21 April 2026
economics
/ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪks/
noun
The study of how people and societies use scarce resources to produce, distribute and consume goods and services.
In a sentence
- She studied economics to understand why rents climb.
- Agricultural economics tracks crop prices and farm labor.
- The podcast explained basic economics without jargon stacks.
In an image
Origin
From Greek oikonomia (household management), from oikos (house) and nemein (to manage); modern economics widened the household image to whole societies.
History
Classical writers treated political economy as moral and practical advice for states. The field later split into theories, data work and applied policy. Households still live the questions economics names: prices, jobs, trade and taxes. Lookups rise with budget season and classroom assignments.
Nearby words
economy · markets · scarcity
The social science of choices under scarcity.