Industry

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun Human exertion of any kind employed for the creation of value, and regarded by some as a species of capital or wealth; labor.

II. Industry ·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; as, the sugar industry; the iron industry; the cotton industry.

III. Industry ·noun Habitual diligence in any employment or pursuit, either bodily or mental; steady attention to business; assiduity;

— opposed to sloth and idleness; as, industry pays debts, while idleness or despair will increase them.