ECONOMY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does economy mean? 

• ECONOMY (noun)
  The noun ECONOMY has 4 senses:

1. the system of production and distribution and consumption

2. the efficient use of resources

3. frugality in the expenditure of money or resources

4. an act of economizing; reduction in cost

  Familiarity information: ECONOMY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ECONOMY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The system of production and distribution and consumption

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

economic system; economy

Hypernyms ("economy" is a kind of...):

scheme; system (a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole)

Meronyms (parts of "economy"):

sector (a social group that forms part of the society or the economy)

black economy (a hidden sector of the economy where private cash transactions go unreported)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "economy"):

industrialism (an economic system built on large industries rather than on agriculture or craftsmanship)

free enterprise; laissez-faire economy; market economy; private enterprise (an economy that relies chiefly on market forces to allocate goods and resources and to determine prices)

mixed economy (an economic system that combines private and state enterprises)

non-market economy (an economy that is not a market economy)

state capitalism (an economic system that is primarily capitalistic but there is some degree of government ownership of the means of production)

state socialism (an economic system in which the government owns most means of production but some degree of private capitalism is allowed)

Derivation:

economic (of or relating to the science of economics)

economic; economical (of or relating to an economy, the system of production and management of material wealth)

economist (an expert in the science of economics)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The efficient use of resources

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

economy of effort

Hypernyms ("economy" is a kind of...):

efficiency (skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort)

Derivation:

economic; economical (using the minimum of time or resources necessary for effectiveness)

economist (an expert in the science of economics)

economize (use cautiously and frugally)

economize (spend sparingly, avoid the waste of)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Frugality in the expenditure of money or resources

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

economy; thriftiness

Context example:

the Scots are famous for their economy

Hypernyms ("economy" is a kind of...):

frugality; frugalness (prudence in avoiding waste)

Derivation:

economical (avoiding waste)

economize (use cautiously and frugally)

economize (spend sparingly, avoid the waste of)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An act of economizing; reduction in cost

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

economy; saving

Context example:

there was a saving of 50 cents

Hypernyms ("economy" is a kind of...):

action (something done (usually as opposed to something said))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "economy"):

curtailment; downsizing; retrenchment (the reduction of expenditures in order to become financially stable)

economy of scale (the saving in cost of production that is due to mass production)

Derivation:

economic (concerned with worldly necessities of life (especially money))

economical (using the minimum of time or resources necessary for effectiveness)

economize (use cautiously and frugally)

economize (spend sparingly, avoid the waste of)

 Context examples 

And you may be certain when I have the honour of seeing her again, I shall speak in the very highest terms of your modesty, economy, and other amiable qualification.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He is a harsh man; at once pompous and meddling; he cut off our hair; and for economy's sake bought us bad needles and thread, with which we could hardly sew.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

National economies will also be strongly affected.

(Pacific island fish migrating to cooler seas, SciDev.Net)

He achieved an internal as well as external economy.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“As he might get an excellent smoke for half the price, he has no need to practise economy.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had settled my little economy to my own heart’s content.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

By moderation and economy, and bringing down your wants to your income, and all that.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

What people don’t realize ... people who are sick or dead cannot contribute to the economy.

(Pollution is the World’s No. 1 Killer, VOA)

The lakes also support major economies, including fisheries and tourism.

(Ancient lakes: eyes into the past, and the future, National Science Foundation)

Solar-driven water splitting is a promising route towards a renewable energy-based economy.

(Promising new solar-powered path to hydrogen fuel production, National Science Foundation)