different between thrift vs economy

English

Etymology

From Middle English thrift, thryfte, þrift, from Old Norse þrift (“thriving condition, prosperity”). Equivalent to thrive +? -t.

Pronunciation

• enPR: thr?ft, IPA^(key): /???ft/
• Rhymes: -?ft

Wikispecies

Noun

thrift (countable and uncountable, plural thrifts)

1. (uncountable) The characteristic of using a minimum of something (especially money).

   His thrift can be seen in how little the trashman takes from his house.

   • The rest, […] willing to fall to thrift , as I have seene many souldiers after the service to prove very good husbands

   • 1892, Ambrose Bierce, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians - Holy Terror

     […] it would appear that before taking this precaution Mr. Bree must have had the thrift to remove a modest competency of the gold […]

2. (countable, US) A savings bank.

   Usually, home mortgages are obtained from thrifts.

3. (countable) Any of various plants of the genus Armeria, particularly Armeria maritima.
4. (obsolete) Success and advance in the acquisition of property; increase of worldly goods; gain; prosperity; profit.
   • 1380-1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales:

     Medleth na-more with that art, I mene, / For, if ye doon, your thrift is goon ful clene.

   • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I scene i^[1]:

     Bassanio: […] And many Jasons come in quest of her. / O my Antonio, had I but the means / To hold a rival place with one of them, / I have a mind presages me such thrift, / That I should questionless be fortunate!

   • c. 1599-1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III scene ii^[2]:

     Hamlet: No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, / And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee / Where thrift may follow fawning.

5. (obsolete) Vigorous growth, as of a plant.

Synonyms

• (characteristic of using a minimum of something): frugality

Antonyms

• spendthrift

Derived terms

• thrifty
• thrift shop
• thrift store

Related terms

Translations

Verb

thrift (third-person singular simple present thrifts, present participle thrifting, simple past and past participle thrifted)

1. (transitive) To obtain from a thrift shop.

References

English

Alternative forms

• oeconomy, œconomy (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek ????????? (oikonomía, “management of a household, administration”), from ????? (oîkos, “house”) + ???? (ném?, “distribute, allocate”) (surface analysis eco- +? -nomy). The first recorded sense of the word economy, found in a work possibly composed in 1440, is “the management of economic affairs”, in this case, of a monastery.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /i??k?n.?.mi/
• (General American) enPR: ?k?n??m?, ?k?n??m? IPA^(key): /i??k?n.?.mi/, /??k?n.?.mi/, /??k?n.?.mi/
• Rhymes: -?n?mi

Noun

economy (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.

      animal economy, vegetable economy

   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.

      the Jewish economy

   4. (obsolete) The disposition or arrangement of any work.

      the economy of a poem

2. The study of money, currency and trade, and the efficient use of resources.
3. Frugal use of resources.

   economy of word

   • April 5, 1729, Jonathan Swift, letter to St. John

     I have no other notion of economy than that it is the parent to liberty and ease.

4. The system of production and distribution and consumption. The overall measure of a currency system; as the national economy.
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.

Derived terms

Related terms

• economics
  • macroeconomics
  • microeconomics

Translations

Adjective

economy (not comparable)

1. Cheap to run; using minimal resources; representing good value for money.

   He bought an economy car.

   Economy size.

Adverb

economy (not comparable)

1. (US) In or via the part of a commercial passenger airplane reserved for those paying the lower standard fares.

   Numerous web sites have tips on how to fly economy.

Translations

Anagrams

• monoecy