económico

Económico is a Spanish adjective that denotes relation to the economy or to the economic sphere. It is commonly used to describe phenomena, policies, or structures associated with economic activity, such as crecimiento económico, política económica, or sector económico. In everyday language, the term can also carry a sense of cost efficiency or affordability, though this sense is often clarified with terms like barato or asequible to avoid ambiguity.

Etymology and scope: The word derives from economía, which in turn comes from the Latin oeconomia and the Greek oikonomía, meaning the management or household governance. The suffix -ico forms adjectives in Spanish to indicate a relationship with the base noun, yielding a term that is widely applicable across disciplines such as economics, public policy, business, and finance.

Usage in discourse: In academic and professional contexts, económico typically pairs with nouns to describe topics like desarrollo económico (economic development), sistemas económicos (economic systems), or crisis económica (economic crisis). It is distinct from related terms such as financiero (financial), monetario (monetary), or fiscal (fiscal), which highlight different dimensions of economic activity. In translation to English, económico is generally rendered as economic, with context guiding nuances of policy, market, or affordability.

See also: Economía, Economía política, Política económica, Economía de mercado.