Custom Definition

custom

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Etymology

From Middle English custume, from Anglo-Norman custume, from Old French coustume, from Vulgar Latin *cōnsuētūmen, from Latin cōnsuētūdinem, accusative singular of cōnsuētūdō (“custom, habit”), from cōnsuēscō (“accustom, habituate”), from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed”), inchoative form of sueō (“I am accustomed”), perhaps from suus (“one's own, his own”); see consuetude. Displaced native Middle English wune, wone (“custom, habit, practice”) (from Old English wuna (“custom, habit, practice, rite”)), Middle English side, sid (“custom”) (from Old English sidu, sido (“custom, note, manner”)), Middle English cure (“custom, choice, preference”) (from Old English cyre (“choice, choosing, free will”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kʌstəm/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

custom (plural customs)

1. Frequent repetition of the same act; way of acting common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; usage; method of doing or living.

   • And teach customs which are not lawful. Acts xvi. 21.
   • Moved beyond his custom, Gama said. Alfred Tennyson.
   • A custom More honored in the breach than the observance. Shakespeare

2. Habitual buying of goods; practice of frequenting, as a shop, manufactory, etc., for making purchases or giving orders; business support.
   • Let him have your custom, but not your votes. - Joseph Addison.
3. (law) Long-established practice, considered as unwritten law, and resting for authority on long consent; usage. See Usage, and Prescription.
   • Usage is a fact. Custom is a law. There can be no custom without usage, though there may be usage without custom. Wharton.
4. (obsolete) Familiar acquaintance; familiarity.
   • Age can not wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Shakespeare
5. The customary toll, tax, or tribute.
   • Render, therefore, to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom. Rom. xiii. 7.
6. created under particular specifications, specialized, unique, custom-made

Synonyms

Derived terms

• custom made

Adjective

custom (not comparable)

1. made in a different way from usual, specially to fit one's needs

   My feet are as big as powerboats, so I need custom shoes.

Verb

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

1. (obsolete) (transitive) To make familiar; to accustom.
2. (obsolete) (transitive) To supply with customers.
3. (obsolete) (transitive) To pay the customs of.
4. (obsolete) (intransitive) To have a custom.

   • On a bridge he custometh to fight. Edmund Spenser.

Related terms

• consuetude
• costumal
• costume
• customary
• customer
• customization
• customize

External links

• custom in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• custom in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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See Also:

• Dutch Customs and Etiquette