economos

Economos is a transliteration of the Byzantine Greek term oikonomos (Ὀικονομός), meaning “steward” or “administrator of a household.” In historical Greek-speaking domains, the economos was an official responsible for financial administration and property management within a monastery, church, palace, or secular estate. The exact duties varied by time and place but typically included overseeing revenues and expenditures, managing landholdings, provisioning, and handling contracts or other financial affairs.

In monasteries and churches, the economos often operated under the authority of an abbot or bishop, supervising estates and revenues to support the religious community and its charitable activities. The office could carry considerable authority and, in some contexts, might be hereditary or granted by appointment. The role is attested in Byzantine and later medieval sources and is sometimes found in Latinized form as economus.

In modern scholarship, economos is primarily encountered in historical discussions rather than as a contemporary job title, and the term can appear in discussions of Byzantine administration or ecclesiastical governance. It may also occur as a surname within Greek-speaking communities.

Etymologically, the term derives from oikos “house” and nomos “law” or “custom,” reflecting its original sense as a steward or manager of a household or estate.