Oikonomos

Oikonomos (Greek: οἰκονόμος) is a historical title traditionally translated as "steward" or "household manager." Etymology combines oikos, meaning house or household, with nomos, meaning management or custom, reflecting a role centered on administering a household or estate.

In ancient Greece, an oikonomos was a person entrusted with the management of a noble household, temple holdings, or a large estate. Duties typically included provisioning, budgeting, supervising slaves or dependents, and overseeing revenues and expenditures for a central figure such as a citizen, trait, or temple endowment. The term signified practical administration rather than a specialized professional office.

In the Byzantine Empire and late antiquity, the title acquired broader official weight. Oikonomoi served as financial administrators, sometimes overseeing the revenues, budgets, and property of provinces, monasteries, or ecclesiastical sees. The role was closely tied to the concept of oikonomia, or household economy, extending from private estates to collective religious and imperial finances. The Latinized form economus appears in some sources, especially in discussions of church and monastery administration.

Ecclesiastical usage persisted in medieval and postclassical contexts, with oikonomos or economos referring to a church treasurer or steward responsible for property, endowments, and revenue management.

Today, oikonomos is primarily of historical and philological interest. The term's legacy lives on in the modern idea of economy and in scholarly discussions of Byzantine administration and ancient Greek household management.