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in·dus·try (ĭndə-strē)
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n. pl. in·dus·tries
1.
a. The sector of an economy made up of manufacturing enterprises: government regulation of industry.
b. A sector of an economy: the advertising industry. See Synonyms at business.
2. Energetic devotion to a task or an endeavor; diligence: demonstrated great intelligence and industry as a prosecutor.
3. Ongoing work or study associated with a specified subject or figure: the Civil War industry; the Hemingway industry.
4. Archaeology
a. A collection of artifacts or tools made from a specified material: a Mesolithic bone industry.
b. A standardized tradition of toolmaking associated with a specified tool or culture: a stone hand-axe industry; the Acheulian industry.
5. Obsolete Cleverness or skill.
[Middle English industrie, skill, from Old French, from Latin industria, diligence, from feminine of industrius, diligent; see ster-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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