custom

English Online Dictionary. What means custom‎? What does custom mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English custume, borrowed from Anglo-Norman custume, inherited from Latin consuētūdinem, a noun derived from cōnsuēscō, from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed to”). Doublet of costume and consuetude.

The adjectival form first appears c. 1830.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌstəm/

Noun

custom (countable and uncountable, plural customs)

1. Frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving.

   Much forbidden by elder custom is accepted today.
2. (dated outside UK) Habitual buying of goods from one same vendor.
   1. (collectively) The habitual patrons (i.e. customers) of a business; business support.
3. (law) Long-established practice, considered as unwritten law, and resting for authority on long consent. Compare prescription.

   Synonym: usage
4. Traditional beliefs or rituals.

5. A custom (made-to-order) piece of art, etc.
   • 2019 May 31, Abella Art & Design, tweet:

     The rest of the necklace holders finally came in! If you bought a custom from me thank you so much for your patience! I’m gonna try my best to crank them out as fast as possible
6. (obsolete) Familiar acquaintance; familiarity.
7. (archaic, uncountable) Toll, tax, or tribute.
   • 1769, Bible, Authorised King James Version, Oxford standard text, Romans, xiii, 7:

     Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

custom (not comparable)

1. Made or done in a way adjusted to fit the needs of a particular person or group (e.g., customer, health care patient, do-it-yourselfer), and thus specialized and, in some cases, unique.

   Synonym: bespoke (chiefly Commonwealth)

   Near-synonyms: custom-made, tailored, tailor-made, custom-built, purpose-built; see also Thesaurus:custom-made

2. Own, personal, not standard or premade.

3. (archaic) Accustomed; usual.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Thesaurus:custom-made

Verb

custom (third-person singular simple present customs, present participle customing, simple past and past participle customed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To make familiar; to accustom.
   • a. 1771 (written, published posthumously) Thomas Gray, Agrippina

     Have not forgot your sire; the eye of Rome
     And the Prætorian camp have long revered,
     With customed awe the daughter, sister, wife,
     And mother of their Cæsars

2. (transitive, obsolete) To supply with customers.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To pay the customs of.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To have a custom.

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “custom”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “custom”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.