economicsとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From economic (noun) (obsolete) +‎ -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum, and regular plural forms of nouns). Economic is derived from 中期英語 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)). By surface analysis, econom(y) +‎ -ics (suffix forming nouns denoting fields of knowledge or practice).

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪks/, /ˌɛ-/
• (General American, Canada) IPA: /ˌɛkəˈnɑmɪks/, /ˌi-/
• (General Australian) IPA: /ˌiːkəˈnɔmɪks/, /ˌɛ-/
• 韻: -ɒmɪks
• ハイフネーション: eco‧nom‧ics

名詞

economics sg or pl

1. (dated) Now chiefly home economics: the art or science of household management, especially relating to the appropriate organization of resources; housekeeping.

   Synonyms: domestic arts; domestic science, domestic sciences; (obsolete) economic; homemaking; household arts; (archaic) householdry

   • 1661, Joseph Glanvill, chapter XVII, in The Vanity of Dogmatizing: Or Confidence in Opinions. […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC, page 166:

     Thus Logick, Phyſicks, Metaphyſicks, are the burden of Volumes, and the dayly entertainment of the Diſputing Schools: vvhile the more profitable doctrines of the Heavens, Meteors, Minerals, Animals; as alſo the more practical ones of Politicks, and Oeconomicks, are ſcarce ſo much as glanc'd at.

   • 1851, Thomas Carlyle, “Literature: The Sterling Club”, in The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, part II, page 208:

     [H]e now furthermore contrived the scheme of a little Club, where monthly over a frugal dinner some reunion might take place; […] The scheme was approved by the persons concerned: I have a copy of the Original Regulations, probably drawn up by Sterling, a very solid lucid piece of economics; […]

     Used to mean management of the club.

   1. Management of household finances; also, the financial situation of a household.
      • 1851, Thomas Carlyle, “Universities: Glasgow; Cambridge”, in The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, part I, page 41:

        Being now turned of sixteen, and the family economics getting yearly more propitious and flourishing, he, as his brother had already been, was sent to Glasgow University, in which city their Mother had connexions.

2. (by extension, social sciences) The study of resource and wealth allocation, consumption, and distribution, of capital and investment, and of management of the factors of production.

   Synonyms: (derogatory or humorous) dismal science, (archaic) political economy; see also Thesaurus:economics

   Mary studied economics for five years before going into banking.

   • 1799 April, “[Appendix.] Occasional retrospect of foreign literature. France.”, in The Critical Review; or, Annals of Literature; […], volume XXV (New Arrangement), London: […] S. Hamilton, […], →OCLC, page 566:

     The Annals of the French Republic, from the Eſtabliſhment of the Conſtitution of the third Year, 6 vols. 8vo.— […] In the fourth [volume] are military pieces; in the fifth and ſixth, various literary intelligence, and memoranda reſpecting commerce, œconomics, &c. may be found.

   • 1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay VII. Prudence.”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 188:

     [L]et him accept and hive every fact of chemistry, natural history, and economics; the more he has, the less is he willing to spare any one.

   • 1930, John Maynard Keynes, “Problems of Supernational Management”, in A Treatise on Money […], volume II (The Applied Theory of Money), London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, book VII (The Management of Money), page 406:

     But it is characteristic of economics that valuable and interesting work may be performed and steady progress made for many years, and yet that the results will be almost useless for practical purposes until a certain degree of exactness and perfection has been reached. Half-baked theory is not of much value in practice, though it may be half-way towards final perfection.

   • 2013 August 3, “Boundary problems: America has changed the way it measures GDP”, in The Economist‎, volume 408, number 8847, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 May 2023:

     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.

   1. Chiefly with a descriptive word: the application of this study to a particular domain.

      rural economics

      • 1930, John Maynard Keynes, “Historical Illustrations”, in A Treatise on Money […], volume II (The Applied Theory of Money), London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, book VI (The Rate of Investment and Its Fluctuations), page 198:

        [T]he extraordinary thing is that the "Gibson Paradox"—as we may fairly call it—is one of the most completely established empirical facts within the whole field of quantitative economics, though theoretical economists have mostly ignored it.

   2. The financial situation of a nation, state, etc.
      • 1839 (indicated as 1840), Thomas Carlyle, “Finest Peasantry in the World”, in Chartism, London: James Fraser, […], →OCLC, page 26:

        [T]he oppression has gone far farther than into the economics of Ireland; inwards to her very heart and soul. The Irish National character is degraded, disordered; till this recover itself, nothing is yet recovered.

      • 1844, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter III, in Coningsby; or, The New Generation. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book III, pages 282–283:

        He assured his father that it would never be well for England until this order of the Peasantry was restored to its pristine condition; […] to its condition in all those moral attributes, which make a recognised rank in a nation; and which in a great degree, are independent of economics; manners, customs, ceremonies, rights, and privileges.

   3. (with plural agreement) Chiefly followed by of: the financial aspects of an activity, enterprise, etc.

      The economics of running a restaurant are not easy to get right.

別の表記

• œconomics (obsolete)

Holonyms

• praxeology
• social science

派生語

関連する語

• economy

名詞

economics

1. (obsolete) plural of economic (“one who is skilled in household management; (Christianity, historical) one who manages the income of a vacant benefice”).

参照

Further reading

• economics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

アナグラム

• neocosmic