Oikonomia

Oikonomia is a Greek term meaning "household management" or "stewardship," formed from oikos (household) and nomos (law, management). In ancient Greek usage it referred to the practical administration of resources within a household—the budgeting, provisioning, and governance required to sustain a family or estate. Over time, the concept came to denote larger systems of resource management beyond the dwelling, including the administration of property and estates in the city-state.

In classical philosophy the term is associated especially with Aristotle, who treated oikonomia as the practical art of managing a household and its wealth, balancing needs and resources. Aristotle contrasted oikonomia with other activities such as chrematistics, the art of acquiring wealth. The Greek writer Xenophon’s Oeconomicus is a notable dialogue on household administration and agriculture, using the household as a microcosm of political and economic life.

As the Greek world expanded and later the Roman world adopted Latin, the term evolved into oeconomia and then economia in medieval and early modern Europe. It gradually shifted from a strictly domestic sense to a broader concern with the management of wealth, resources, and the production and distribution of goods within a society. By the 18th century, the modern discipline of economics emerged, focusing on how societies allocate scarce resources to satisfy wants.

Today, oikonomia is recognized as the historical origin of the word economics and as a foundational idea in the study of how households and societies organize production, distribution, and consumption.