industry

/in"deuh stree/, n., pl. industries for 1, 2, 7.

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.

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

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

[1475-85; earlier industrie < L industria, n. use of fem. of industrius INDUSTRIOUS]

Syn. 6. application, effort, assiduity, industriousness.

* * *

I

Group of productive organizations that produce or supply goods, services, or sources of income.

In economics, industries are customarily classified as primary, secondary, and tertiary; secondary industries are further classified as heavy and light. Primary industry includes agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, and extracting minerals. Secondary or manufacturing industry processes the raw materials supplied by primary industries into consumer goods, or further processes goods from other secondary industries, or builds capital goods used to manufacture consumer and nonconsumer goods; secondary industry also includes energy-producing industries and the construction industry. Tertiary or service industry includes banking, finance, insurance, investment, and real estate services; wholesale, retail, and resale trade; transportation, information, and communications services; professional, consulting, legal, and personal services; tourism, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment; repair and maintenance services; education and teaching; and health, social welfare, administrative, police, security, and defense services.

II

(as used in expressions)

Acheulean industry

fishing industry

Mousterian industry

Oldowan industry

pharmaceutical industry

service industry

Solutrean industry

stone tool industry

Imperial Chemical Industries PLC

B.A.T Industries PLC 1976–98

* * *

Introduction

      a group of productive enterprises or organizations that produce or supply goods, services, or sources of income. In economics, industries are customarily classified as primary, secondary, and tertiary; secondary industries are further classified as heavy and light.

Primary industry

      This sector of a nation's economy includes agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, and the extraction of minerals. It may be divided into two categories: genetic industry, including the production of raw materials that may be increased by human intervention in the production process; and extractive industry, including the production of exhaustible raw materials that cannot be augmented through cultivation.

      The genetic industries include agriculture, forestry, and livestock management and fishing—all of which are subject to scientific and technological improvement of renewable resources. The extractive industries include the mining of mineral ores, the quarrying of stone, and the extraction of mineral fuels.

      Primary industry tends to dominate the economies of undeveloped and developing nations, but as secondary and tertiary industries are developed, its share of the economic output tends to decrease.

Secondary industry

      This sector, also called manufacturing industry, (1) takes the raw materials supplied by primary industries and processes them into consumer goods, or (2) further processes goods that other secondary industries have transformed into products, or (3) builds capital goods used to manufacture consumer and nonconsumer goods. Secondary industry also includes energy-producing industries (e.g., hydroelectric industries) as well as the construction industry.

      Secondary industry may be divided into heavy, or large-scale, and light, or small-scale, industry. Large-scale industry generally requires heavy capital investment in plants and machinery, serves a large and diverse market including other manufacturing industries, has a complex industrial organization and frequently a skilled specialized labour force, and generates a large volume of output. Examples would include petroleum refining, steel and iron manufacturing, motor vehicle and heavy machinery manufacture, cement production, nonferrous metal refining, meat-packing, and hydroelectric power generation.

      Light, or small-scale, industry may be characterized by the nondurability of manufactured products and a smaller capital investment in plants and equipment, and it may involve nonstandard products, such as customized or craft work. The labour force may be either low skilled, as in textile work and clothing manufacture, food processing, and plastics manufacture, or highly skilled, as in electronics and computer hardware manufacture, precision instrument manufacture, gemstone cutting, and craft work.

Tertiary industry

      This sector, also called service industry, includes industries that, while producing no tangible goods, provide services or intangible gains or generate wealth. In free market and mixed economies this sector generally has a mix of private and government enterprise.

      The industries of this sector include banking, finance, insurance, investment, and real estate services; wholesale, retail, and resale trade; transportation, information, and communications services; professional, consulting, legal, and personal services; tourism, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment; repair and maintenance services; education and teaching; and health, social welfare, administrative, police, security, and defense services.

      For international statistical data on industrial activity, see the Britannica World Data section in the Britannica Book Of The Year.

* * *