Lots of today’s politicians want to talk about economics without really knowing anything about it. Let’s take a look at the etymologies of some words about economics.
Economy:
The noun “economy” came into English in the 1530s meaning “household management.” It came from the Latin ”oeconomia”, which in turn came from the Greek “oikonomia,” meaning “household management, thrift.” The Greek is based on “oikos,” meaning “house, abode, dwelling” plus “nomos,” meaning “management.”
The English “economy” acquired the sense of “wealth and resources of a country” in the 1650s and in the 1660s it acquired the meaning of “frugality, judicious use of resource.”
The term “economics” referring to the theoretical study of the creation and consumption of wealth came into use during the early nineteenth century.
Advertising in 1821 began using “economy” as an adjective meaning “cheaper.” In 1950, advertising expanded this to mean “bigger, and thus cheaper per unit or amount.”
Bankrupt:
In the 1560s, English created the adjective “bankrupt” from the Italian “banca rotta” which literally means “a broken bench.” In sixteenth century Italy, when moneylenders went out of business they were supposed to break the bench where they carried out their work. “Banca rotta,” therefore, indicated that the money lender was no longer in business.
Insolvent:
The adjective “insolvent” first appeared in English in the 1590s with the meaning of “unable to pay one’s debts” and was applied originally only to people who were not traders. At this time, only traders could become bankrupt.
Cash:
In the 1590s, English acquired “cash,” meaning “money box” from the Middle French “caisse,” meaning “money box” which originates with the Latin “capsa,” meaning “box.” While originally “cash” referred to the box in which money was kept, its secondary meaning of money became the sole meaning of cash in the eighteenth century.
The term “cash crop” appeared in 1831; “cash flow” in 1954; the “cash register” in 1878.
Pawn:
The noun “pawn,” meaning “something left as security,” emerged in English in the late fifteenth century from the twelfth-century Anglo-Latin “pandum” which is related to the Old French “pan, pant” meaning “pledge, security.” The Old French “pan” also had the meaning of “cloth, piece of cloth” which may refer to the idea of cloth being used as a medium of exchange.
Market:
In the early twelfth century, “market” had the meaning of “a meeting at a fixed time for buying and selling livestock and provisions.” The English “market” comes from the Latin “mercatus,” meaning “trading, buying, selling, trade.” By the mid-thirteenth century “market” had acquired the meaning of “public building or space where markets are held.” In the 1680s, “market” was also being used with the meaning of “sales, as controlled by supply and demand.”
“Market value” came into use in the 1690s from the writings of John Locke; “market economy” dates to 1948; and “market research” to 1921.
“Marketing,” meaning “buying and selling,” came into use in the 1560s and the business sense of “marketing” as the “process of moving goods from producer to consumer with emphasis on advertising and sales” emerged by 1897.
In Paris there was a market known as “marché aux puces” where shoddy, second-hand goods were sold. These were the kind of goods that were most likely to contain fleas. The term “flea market” in English dates to 1922 (1917 in some soures).
The term “aftermarket,” referring to automobile parts, came into American English in 1940.
The American term “supermarket” first appeared in 1933.