custom Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun accepted or habitual practice
    usage; usance.
  2. noun a specific practice of long standing
    tradition.
  3. noun money collected under a tariff
    impost; customs duty; customs.
  4. noun habitual patronage
    • I have given this tailor my custom for many years
  5. adjective made according to the specifications of an individual
    custom-made.

WordNet

Cus"tom noun
Etymology
OF. custume, costume, Anglo-Norman coustome, F. coutume, fr. (assumed) LL. consuetumen custom, habit, fr. L. consuetudo, -dinis, fr. consuescere to accustom, verb inchoative fr. consuere to be accustomed; con- + suere to be accustomed, pro originally, to make one's own, fr. the root of suus one's own; akin to E. so, adv. Cf. Consuetude, Costume.
Definitions
  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 beyong his custom, Gama said. Tennyson.
    A custom More honored in the breach than the observance. Shak.
  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. 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. Familiar aquaintance; familiarity. Obs.
    Age can not wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Shak.
    Syn. -- Practice; fashion. See Habit, and Usage.
Cus"tom transitive verb
Etymology
Cf. OF. costumer. Cf. Accustom.
Definitions
  1. To make familiar; to accustom. Obs. Gray.
  2. To supply with customers. Obs. Bacon.
Cus"tom intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To have a custom. Obs.
    On a bridge he custometh to fight. Spenser.
Cus"tom noun
Etymology
OF. coustume, F. coutume, tax, i. e., the usual tax. See 1st Custom.
Definitions
  1. 1 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.
  2. pl. Duties or tolls imposed by law on commodities, imported or exported.
Cus"tom transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To pay the customs of. Obs. Marlowe.

Webster 1913