Frazz on lexical drift
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For the past week or so, Jef Mallett's Frazz has been exploring etymology and semantic drift.
The current sequence starts on 10/10 (or maybe earlier):
And then continues onward (so far):
The OED's etymologies for economy and for economic take us back to the Greek οἰκονομία (management of a household or family, husbandry, thrift), οἰκονόμος (one who manages a household; generally, manager, administrator), and οἰκονομικός (practised in the management of a household or family, hence, thrifty, frugal, economical).
And if you follow those links to the entries in the Liddell/Scott/Jones Greek-English Lexicon, you'll see that the "management" in question starts out as the domain of women and slaves, though Frazz and Caulfield haven't yet made that connection.