Definition of "economy"

economy

/iːˈkɒn.ə.mi/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural economies
1. Effective management of a community or system, or especially its resources.
  1. (obsolete) The regular operation of nature in the generation, nutrition and preservation of animals or plants.
  2. (obsolete) System of management; general regulation and disposition of the affairs of a state or nation, or of any department of government.
  3. (obsolete) A system of rules, regulations, rites and ceremonies.
  4. (obsolete) The disposition or arrangement of any work.
2. The study of money, currency and trade, and the efficient use of resources.
3. Frugal use of resources.
  Quotations
  I have no other notion of economy than that it is the parent to liberty and ease.
  April 5, 1729, Jonathan Swift, letter to St. John
4. The system of production and distribution and consumption. The overall measure of a currency system; as the national economy.
  Quotations
  An economy open to free movement of capital can keep a fixed exchange rate, for example, only by subjugating monetary-policy goals to its defence—by raising interest rates sharply, say, when capital outflows put downward pressure on the currency. Yet the trilemma also implies that an economy can enjoy both free capital flows and an independent monetary policy, so long as it gives up worrying about its exchange rate.
  2013 August 31, “Horns of a trilemma”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8851
5. (theology) The method of divine government of the world. (See w:Economy (religion).)
6. (US) The part of a commercial passenger airplane or train reserved for those paying the lower standard fares; economy class.
7. (archaic) Management of one’s residency.
adjective
not comparable
1. Cheap to run; using minimal resources; representing good value for money; economical.
adverb
not comparable
1. (US) In or via the part of a commercial passenger airplane reserved for those paying the lower standard fares.