economics

Definition of Economics

(noun) The social science concerned with description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services and the allocation and management of investments, money, and wealth.

Examples of Economics

• Determining the causes of depression or recession.
• Studying the affect of climate change on the global economy.

Economics Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: ec·o·nom·ics

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˌɛkəˈnɑmɪks/
• British English – /ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪks/

Usage Notes

• Also called economic science.
• Informally called the dismal science.
• Historically called political economy.
• An (noun) economist (adverb) economically studies the economy to create (adjective) economic or (adjective) economical works.

Related Videos

Additional Information

• Economic Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “economics” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• allocation of resources
• barter
• capitalization
• commodification
• conspicuous consumption
• distribution
• division of labor
• economic
• good
• service
• social science

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Works Consulted

Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.

Delaney, Tim, and Tim Madigan. 2015. The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Farlex. (N.d.) TheFreeDictionary.com: Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus. Farlex. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/).

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Taylor & Francis. (N.d.) Routledge Handbooks Online. (https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Economics

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “economics.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved January 16, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/economics/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

economics. (2015). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/economics/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “economics.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/economics/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“economics.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/economics/>.