Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The sector of an economy made up of manufacturing enterprises.
  • noun A sector of an economy: synonym: business.
  • noun Energetic devotion to a task or an endeavor; diligence.
  • noun Ongoing work or study associated with a specified subject or figure.
  • noun A collection of artifacts or tools made from a specified material.
  • noun A standardized tradition of toolmaking associated with a specified tool or culture.
  • noun Obsolete Cleverness or skill.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Habitual diligence in any employment or task, whether bodily or mental; sedulous attention to business; assiduity.
  • noun Productive labor; specifically, labor employed in manufacturing; manufacture; hence, a particular branch of work; a trade: as, the iron industry; the cotton industry: often used, in the plural, of trades in general: as, the arts and industries of a country.
  • noun Synonyms Application, Diligence, etc. (see assiduity); activity, laboriousness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Habitual diligence in any employment or pursuit, either bodily or mental; steady attention to business; assiduity; -- opposed to sloth and idleness.
  • noun Any department or branch of art, occupation, or business; especially, one which employs much labor and capital and is a distinct branch of trade
  • noun (Polit. Econ.) Human exertion of any kind employed for the creation of value, and regarded by some as a species of capital or wealth; labor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The tendency to work persistently.
  • noun countable, business, economics Businesses of the same type, considered as a whole.
  • noun uncountable, economics Businesses that produce goods as opposed to services.
  • noun in singular, economics The sector of the economy consisting of large-scale enterprises.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun persevering determination to perform a task
  • noun the organized action of making of goods and services for sale
  • noun the people or companies engaged in a particular kind of commercial enterprise

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English industrie, skill, from Old French, from Latin industria, diligence, from feminine of industrius, diligent; see ster- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French industrie, from Latin industria ("diligence, activity, industry"), from industrius ("diligent, active, zealous"), from Old Latin indostruus ("diligent, active"); origin unknown. Perhaps from indu ("in") + ūst-, ūstr-, stem of ūrō ("burn, burn up, consume", v), related to Old High German ūstrī ("industry"), Old English andūstrian ("to hate, detest", literally "to be consumed with zeal").

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Examples

  • They all sink into the lowest class of religions mendicants, or retainers; or live among their friends as drones upon the land; while the manufacturing, trading, and commercial industry that provided them with the comforts, conveniences, and elegancies of life while they were in a higher grade of service is in its turn thrown out of employment; and the whole frame of society becomes, for a time, deranged by the local diminution in the demand _for the services of men and the produce of their industry_.

    Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official William Sleeman 1822

  • The very word industry comes from the Middle English word industrie, or skill, and from the Latin industria, or diligence.

    We don’t sell records,we sell dreams: Janis Ian 2009

  • The very word industry comes from the Middle English word industrie, or skill, and from the Latin industria, or diligence.

    We don’t sell records,we sell dreams: Janis Ian 2009

  • The very word "industry" comes from the Middle English word "industrie", or skill, and from the Latin "industria", or diligence.

    p2pnet news 2009

  • The very word "industry" comes from the Middle English word "industrie", or skill, and from the Latin "industria", or diligence.

    p2pnet news 2009

  • Given natural resources, the other great factor in industry is labour.

    THE UNPARALLELED INVASION 2010

  • In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Tom Corbett earlier this year successfully campaigned against a push by the title industry for increases in regulated rates.

    Title-Insurer Fees Draw Scrutiny 2009

  • The Canaries are great, but their main industry is package holidays, their economy is based on it.

    calling in favours 2007

  • The title industry plays a particularly dynamic role in efforts to deter, detect, and report mortgage fraud.

    The Cult of Plausible Deniability 2008

  • The title industry has historically directed its marketing efforts towards real estate agents and loan originators rather than consumers.

    The Cult of Plausible Deniability 2008

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