From Latin 'industria' (diligence), probably 'indu-' (within) + 'struere' (to build) — 'building within oneself.'
Economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacturing of goods; hard work, diligence.
From Latin 'industria' (diligence, activity, zealous application), from 'industrius' (diligent, active, assiduous), built from the archaic prefix 'indu-' (an older, fuller form of 'in-,' meaning within or into) + a root related to 'struere' (to build, pile up, arrange), from PIE *strew- (to spread, strew). The compound's literal sense is building within — the quality of internally constructing or organizing effort. Some authorities connect the second element to *ster- (to spread), giving
Before the Industrial Revolution, 'industry' meant personal diligence — a moral virtue, not an economic sector. Benjamin Franklin praised 'industry' as a character trait alongside frugality and temperance. The word's shift from a human quality to a vast economic system mirrors the transformation of Western civilization itself: individual craftsmanship gave way to mechanized mass production, and the vocabulary
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