home economics
Americannoun
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the art and science of home management.
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a college curriculum usually including studies in nutrition, the purchase, preparation, and service of food, interior design, clothing and textiles, child development, family relationships, and household economics.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of home economics
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She also organized the annual Lake Placid Conference from 1899 to 1908, which defined the field of home economics and framed domestic work as worthy of research and public funding.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
For much of the 1900s, family and consumer sciences, more broadly known as home economics, were a staple of educational curricula in most American communities.
From Salon • Jan. 30, 2026
On Saturday morning the party launched a number of policies including a promise to bring down waits for NHS treatment to no more than a year, and reinstating home economics to schools.
From BBC • May 16, 2025
“It doesn’t,” replied Ms. Martin, who is also a Republican and taught home economics for 18 years at the Pittsburg School down the road.
From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2024
They also had apartments with full kitchens to teach home economics.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
