Economical

How to spell economical

10 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce economical

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does economical mean?

1. adjectiveCareful with money or resources; giving good value without waste.

Economical in a sentence

• The small diesel engine is remarkably economical on long motorway trips.

• Cooking large batches at the weekend is an economical way to feed the family.

Where does economical come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek oikonomia, meaning 'household management', which was built from oikos 'house' and nemein 'to manage or distribute'. The Greeks used it for the careful running of a home and its resources, and Latin borrowed it as oeconomicus, before French passed it into English as economique during the 1500s. At first 'economical' simply meant 'relating to household management', but by the 1700s it had narrowed to its modern sense of being thrifty and avoiding waste. The same oikos root also gives us 'ecology' and 'economy', which is why the opening still carries the 'eco' that English speakers now associate with frugality and resources. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle vowels: it is easy to drop a syllable or misjudge the o and a in econom-, even though all the parts are sounded.

How the word is built

• eco- (from Greek oikos: house, household)
• -nom- (from nemein: to manage)
• -ic (adjective)
• -al (adjective suffix)