industry

American  

[in-duh-stree] / ˈɪn də stri /

noun

plural

industries

1. the aggregate of manufacturing or technically productive enterprises in a particular field, often named after its principal product.

   the automobile industry;

   the steel industry.

2. any general business activity; commercial enterprise.

   the Italian tourist industry.

3. trade or manufacture in general.

   the rise of industry in Africa.

4. the ownership and management of companies, factories, etc..

   friction between labor and industry.

5. systematic work or labor.

6. energetic, devoted activity at any work or task; diligence.

   Her teacher praised her industry.

   Synonyms:

   industriousness, assiduity, effort, application

7. the aggregate of work, scholarship, and ancillary activity in a particular field, often named after its principal subject.

   the Mozart industry.

8. Archaeology. an assemblage of artifacts regarded as unmistakably the work of a single prehistoric group.

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industry British  

/ ˈɪndəstrɪ /

noun

1. organized economic activity concerned with manufacture, extraction and processing of raw materials, or construction

2. a branch of commercial enterprise concerned with the output of a specified product or service

   the steel industry

3. 1. industrial ownership and management interests collectively, as contrasted with labour interests

   2. manufacturing enterprise collectively, as opposed to agriculture

4. diligence; assiduity

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Other Word Forms

• interindustry adjective
• mini-industry noun
• nonindustry adjective
• preindustry noun
• proindustry adjective
• subindustry noun
• superindustry noun

Etymology

Origin of industry

First recorded in 1475–85; earlier industrie, from Latin industria, noun use of feminine of industrius “diligent, assiduous”; industrious

Explanation

An industry is a group of manufacturers or businesses that produce a particular kind of goods or services. Workers in the textile industry design, fabricate, and sell cloth. The tourist industry includes all the commercial aspects of tourism. You can use industry to refer to a group of similar businesses: The automobile industry makes cars and car parts. The food service industry prepares food and delivers it to hotels, schools, and other big facilities. Industry comes from the Latin industria, which means "diligence, hard work," and the word is still used with that meaning. If you build a house in three weeks, when the same job takes everyone else three months, you're showing impressive industry.

Example Sentences

In the engine-making industry, Rolls-Royce rises 6%, Safran gains 5.7% and MTU Aero Engines climbs 5.2%.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

But within the valuation data for the red-hot chip sector, there is a warning for investors in a hot pocket of an industry that has been cyclical for decades.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026

The good news for crypto investors is that, in lieu of a bill, the Trump administration is trying to make it easier in other ways for the industry to flourish.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

With the cruise industry on pause, he took a stopgap job with a construction-project management firm, where he worked for about four years until he retired in 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

He started his own pulpwood business that evolved with the timber industry in the 1970s.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• business
• commerce
• corporation
• management
• production
• trade