a habitual practice or traditional way of behaving within a particular society, group, or family
In many countries, it is a custom to shake hands when meeting someone.
Removing your shoes before entering a house is a common custom in Japan.
✦ From Latin consuetudinem (habit, usage), via Old French costume.
regular business or patronage that customers give to a shop, service, or company
The friendly owner relies on local custom to keep the café open during winter.
Tourists bring valuable custom to the seaside market each summer.
✦ Extension of the idea of habitual practice to the habitual buying behavior of customers.
made or done especially for a particular person, purpose, or order; tailored
He ordered a custom suit for the wedding.
They built a custom computer with advanced cooling.
✦ Adjectival use developed from the noun sense of something ordered according to a customer's wishes.
someone who buys goods or services from a business or person
The coffee shop gave every customer a free cookie with their drink.
The mechanic explained the repairs to the waiting customer.
✦ From Middle English ‘custumer’, from Anglo-Norman custumer, from Old French coustumier (“customs officer”), from Latin consuētūdō (“custom”). Meaning shifted from ‘tax collector’ to ‘person who pays money’ by the 15th century.
a person described by a particular quality, especially someone difficult, tough, or unusual
The goalkeeper is a tough customer for any striker to beat.
You don't want to anger her; she's a fierce customer when provoked.
✦ Extension of the main sense ‘person who pays money’ to mean ‘person one has to deal with’, then generalized to any person of a certain kind.
the taxes paid on goods brought into a country and the government officials who collect them at borders and airports
We declared the souvenirs at customs and paid a small fee.
The queue for customs moved quickly this morning.
✦ Originally plural of “custom” meaning a tax payable to the Crown on imported goods.
