Custom - Wiktionary

English

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Etymology

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PIE word
*ḱóm

PIE word
*swé

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”). Displaced native Old English ġewuna. Doublet of costume, consuetude, and kastom.

The adjectival form first appears c. 1830.

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key): /ˈkʌstəm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

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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.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:A custom More honour'd in the breach than the observance.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 16:20-21:20 […] These men being Iewes, do exceedingly trouble our city,21 And teach customes which are not lawfull for vs to receiue, neither to obserue, being Romanes.
   • a. 1627 (date written), Francis Bacon, “A.D. 1610. Ætat. 50.”, in James Spedding, editor, The Works of Francis Bacon, […]: The Letters and the Life of Francis Bacon […], volume IV, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, published 1858, →OCLC, page 194:For first Mr. Dier's opinion was that the ancient custom for exportation was by the common laws; and goeth furder, that that ancient custom was the custom upon wools, woolfells, and leather.
   • 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part 6”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:Moved beyond his custom, Gama said
2. (dated outside UK) Habitual buying of goods from one same vendor. Thank you for your custom.
   • 1710 September 28, Joseph Addison, The Whig Examiner, number 3:Let him have your custom, but not your votes.
   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
   • 1888, Francis Wharton, A Commentary on the Law of Evidence in Civil Issues, 3rd edition, volume 2, page 188:The distinction between custom and usage it that usage is a fact and custom is a law. There can be usage without custom, but not custom without usage.
4. Traditional beliefs or rituals. The Ancient Egyptian culture had many distinctive and interesting beliefs and customs; one custom was the mummification of the dead.
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
   • 2020 July 28, “Paying for porn: How much is appropriate?”, in Slate Magazine:Oftentimes I have trouble finding enough women to buy customs from. Strangely enough, finding women to take hundreds of dollars for a selfie isn’t as easy as you’d think.
6. (obsolete) Familiar acquaintance; familiarity.
   • c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:Age can not wither her, nor custom staleHer infinite variety.
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

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• fashion
• folkway
• habit
• practice
• usage
• wone
• wont

Derived terms

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• custom and practice
• custom-built
• custom house
• customless
• grow a custom
• heir by custom
• suit custom
• take one's custom elsewhere
• Ulster custom

Descendants

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• Bislama: kastom
  • → English: kastom
• Tok Pisin: kastom
  • → English: kastom

Translations

[edit] frequent repetition of the same act

Afrikaans: gebruik (af) Albanian: doke (sq) m, adet (sq) m Altai: Southern Altai: јаҥ (ǰaŋ) Arabic: عَادَة f (ʕāda), عُرْف (ar) m (ʕurf) Armenian: սովորույթ (hy) (sovoruytʻ), սովորություն (hy) (sovorutʻyun) Avar: гӏадат (ʻadat) Azerbaijani: adət (az), adət-ənənə Bashkir: ғәҙәт (ğəźət) Belarusian: звы́чай m (zvýčaj) Bengali: প্রথা (bn) (protha), রসম (bn) (rośom), রেওয়াজ (bn) (reōẇaj), আদত (bn) (adot) Bulgarian: оби́чай (bg) m (obíčaj), приви́чка (bg) f (privíčka), на́вик (bg) m (návik) Burmese: ထုံးစံ (my) (htum:cam), ဓလေ့ (my) (dha.le.) Catalan: costum (ca) m Cebuano: batasan Chechen: ӏадат (ˀadat) Chinese: Mandarin: 習慣 / 习惯 (zh) (xíguàn), 習俗 / 习俗 (zh) (xísú), 風俗 / 风俗 (zh) (fēngsú), 俗例 (súlì) Circassian: West Circassian: хабзэ (xabzɛ) Comorian: Maore Comorian: mila class 9/10, udzevu class 11 Czech: obyčej (cs) m, zvyk (cs) m Danish: skik, sædvane (da) Dutch: manieren (nl), (both mostly plural) gebruiken (nl) Esperanto: kutimo Estonian: tava, komme Finnish: tapa (fi) French: coutume (fr) f Galician: costume (gl) m, doito m, vezo m Georgian: ჩვეულება (čveuleba), წესი (ka) (c̣esi) German: Brauch (de) m, Gewohnheit (de) f (habit), Sitte (de) f Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌹 n (biūhti) Greek: συνήθεια (el) f (synítheia) Ancient Greek: συνήθεια f (sunḗtheia) Hebrew: מִנְהָג (he) (minhag) Hindi: प्रथा (hi) f (prathā), रीति (hi) f (rīti), रीत (hi) f (rīt) Hmong: White Hmong: cai Hungarian: szokás (hu) Iban: adat Icelandic: siðvenja (is) f Ido: kustumo (io) Indonesian: adat (id) Irish: nós m, gnás m, béas m, cleachtadh m Italian: usanza (it), costume (it), uso (it) m Japanese: 習慣 (ja) (しゅうかん, shūkan), 風俗 (ja) (ふうぞく, fūzoku) Kazakh: ғұрып (kk) (ğūryp), әдет (kk) (ädet), әдет-ғұрып (ädet-ğūryp), салт (salt) Khmer: ទំនៀម (km) (tumniəm), ប្រវេណី (km) (prɑveenii), ប្រពៃណី (km) (prɑpɨynii) Korean: 습관(習慣) (ko) (seupgwan), 풍속(風俗) (ko) (pungsok), 풍습 (ko) (pungseup) Kyrgyz: адат (ky) (adat), урп-адат (ky) (urp-adat), салт (ky) (salt) Lao: ກະບິນ (ka bin), ຈາລີດ (chā līt), ທັມນຽມ (tham nīam) Latin: cōnsuētūdō f Latvian: paraža f, paradums m Lithuanian: paprotys (lt) m Macedonian: обичај m (običaj), навика f (navika) Malay: adat (ms) Malayalam: ആചാരം (ml) (ācāraṁ) Middle English: custume Mongolian: ёс (mn) (jos), заншил (mn) (zanšil) Norwegian: Bokmål: bruk (no) m, skikk Occitan: costuma (oc) f Old English: behogadnes f Pashto: دود (ps) m (dod), رسم (ps) m (rásəm), عرف (ps) m (orf) Persian: رسم (fa) (rasm), عادت (fa) ('âdat), هند (fa) (hand), عرف (fa) ('orf), آیین (fa) (āyin) Plautdietsch: Tracht f, Sitten n pl Polish: zwyczaj (pl) m, obyczaj (pl) m, nawyk (pl) m (personal, not social), moda (pl) f (bookish) Portuguese: costume (pt), hábito (pt) Romanian: obicei (ro) n, datină (ro) f Romansh: disa f (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan), deisa f (Surmiran), adüs m (Puter, Vallader) Russian: обы́чай (ru) m (obýčaj), привы́чка (ru) f (privýčka) (habit) Scottish Gaelic: cleachdadh m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: обичај m Latin: običaj (sh) m Sicilian: usu (scn) m, abbitùddini f, usanza f, custumi (scn), tradizziuni f Slovak: obyčaj m, zvyk m Slovene: običaj (sl) m Spanish: habituación (es) f, costumbre (es) m, usanza (es) f, consuetud (es) f (disused) Swedish: sed (sv) c, vana (sv), sedvänja (sv) c Tagalog: ugali Tajik: расм (tg) (rasm), одат (tg) (odat), урфу одат (urfu odat), урф (urf) Tamil: வழமை (ta) (vaḻamai) Thai: แบบแผน (th) (bɛ̀ɛp-pɛ̌ɛn), ธรรมเนียม (th) (tam-niiam), จารีต (th) (jaa-rîit) Turkish: adet (tr), görenek (tr) Ottoman Turkish: قاعده (kaʿide) Turkmen: adat (tk), urp-adat, dessur Ukrainian: звича́й m (zvyčáj), обича́й m (obyčáj) Urdu: رواج m (rivāj), رسم f (rasm), ضابطہ (zābita), عرف ('urf) Uyghur: رەسىم (resim) Uzbek: odat (uz) Vietnamese: tập quán (vi) (習慣), phong tục (vi) (風俗), tục lệ (vi) (俗例) Walloon: uzaedje (wa) m

habitual buying of goods from one same vendor

Dutch: klandizie (nl) f Estonian: harjumus Finnish: asiakkuus (fi) French: chalandise (fr) f German: Gewohnheit (de) f Irish: custam m

long-established practice

Albanian: doke (sq) m Bashkir: ғәҙәт (ğəźət), йола (yola), (collective term) ғөрөф-ғәҙәт (ğöröf-ğəźət) Bengali: রসম (bn) (rośom) Bulgarian: оби́чай (bg) m (obíčaj) Catalan: costum (ca) m Danish: hævd c Dutch: gewoonte (nl), gebruik (nl) Esperanto: kutimo Estonian: komme Finnish: käytäntö (fi), perinnäistapa (fi) French: coutume (fr) f, us (fr) m Galician: costume (gl) m, doito m, vezo m, uso (gl) m Georgian: წესი (ka) (c̣esi), ჩვეულება (čveuleba) German: Brauch (de) m, Sitte (de) f, Usus (de) m Greek: Ancient Greek: ἔθος n (éthos), νόμιμα n pl (nómima) Hebrew: נוהג m (nohag), מנהג (he) m (minhag) Hindi: प्रथा (hi) f (prathā), रीति (hi) f (rīti), परंपरा (hi) f (paramprā) Ingrian: tapa Italian: costume (it) m Latin: cōnsuētūdō f Macedonian: обичај m (običaj), адет m (adet) Māori: ritenga, tikanga Middle English: custume Old English: ǣ f Plautdietsch: Tracht f, Sitten n pl Polish: zwyczaj (pl) m, obyczaj (pl) m, tradycja (pl) f Portuguese: costume (pt) m, tradição (pt) f Romanian: obicei (ro) n, tradiție (ro) f, obișnuință (ro) f Russian: обы́чай (ru) m (obýčaj), тради́ция (ru) f (tradícija) Scottish Gaelic: cleachdadh m Sicilian: custumi (scn) m, abbitùddini f, usu (scn) m, manera (scn) f Swahili: desturi (sw) Tamil: வழமை (ta) (vaḻamai) Tocharian B: yakne Tok Pisin: pasin (tpi) Turkish: Ottoman Turkish: قاعده (kaʿide) Walloon: uzance (wa) f, dujhance (wa) f Yiddish: מינהג m (mineg)

familiar acquaintance; familiarity

Dutch: bekendheid (nl) Finnish: tuttavuus (fi) French: connaissance (fr) Galician: afacemento m German: Gewohnheit (de) f Latin: cōnsuētūdō f Malay: kebiasaan, kelaziman (ms) Portuguese: familiaridade (pt) f Romanian: obișnuință (ro) f Scottish Gaelic: cleachdadh m

the customary toll, tax, or tribute

Albanian: doganë (sq) Armenian: Old Armenian: մաքս (makʻs) Bulgarian: мито (bg) n (mito) Czech: clo (cs) n Dutch: heffing (nl), tol (nl), accijns (nl) Finnish: tulli (fi) French: droit de douane (fr) m Galician: arancel m German: Zoll (de) m Greek: Ancient Greek: τέλος n (télos) Hindi: सीमा शुल्क m (sīmā śulk) Hungarian: vám (hu) Macedonian: царина f (carina), давачка f (davačka) Māori: katimauhe, tāke taonga Middle English: custume Portuguese: alfândega (pt) f Romanian: vamă (ro) f, acciză (ro) f Russian: по́шлина (ru) f (póšlina), сбор (ru) m (sbor)

Adjective

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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 My feet are very large, so I need custom shoes, specially made by a custom tailor.
2. Own, personal, not standard or premade. We can embroider a wide range of ready designs or a custom logo.
3. (especially agriculture) Done on a for-hire basis, as contrasted with being done only for oneself. custom threshing;   custom baling The amount of high-end equipment that he maintains is justified by the fact that he does a lot of custom tillage and combining. My grandfather did his own threshing, plus a bunch of custom threshing on the side.
   • 2025 December 4, “Custom Harvesters Wrap Up Harvest Season”, in AgWeekTV‎[1]:Custom harvesters have a front row seat to crop conditions as they make their way across the country, helping farmers get their crops out of the fields. […] Wheat harvests got off to a slow start in Texas and Oklahoma this year, with rain delays, but conditions got better once custom harvesters made it to Kansas.
4. (archaic) Accustomed; usual.

Derived terms

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• custom car
• customly
• custom-made, custom made
• custom vehicle
• noncustom

Translations

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Armenian: հարմարեցված (harmarecʻvac), պատվերով (patverov) Belarusian: карыстальніцкі (karystalʹnicki), нестандартны (njestandartny), заказны (zakazny), на заказ (na zakaz), падагнаны (padahnany) Catalan: personalitzat (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 定製 / 定制 (zh) (dìngzhì) Czech: zákaznický m, na míru, na zakázku, nestandardní m, přizpůsobený m, uživatelský (cs) m, vlastní (cs) m Danish: skræddersyet Dutch: op maat, aangepast (nl) Finnish: mittatilaus (fi)-, erikoisvalmisteinen, räätälöity (fi), teetetty (fi) French: sur mesure (fr), personnalisé (fr) Galician: feito á medida, á medida German: maßgeschneidert (de), benutzerdefiniert (de) Icelandic: sérsniðinn Indonesian: menurut pesanan, khusus (id), pribadi (id), disesuaikan (id), nonstandar (id) Italian: personalizzato (it) m, fatto ad hoc m, fatto su misura m Japanese: 特注 (ja) (tokuchū) Malay: langganan, ditempah khas, peribadi (ms), disesuaikan, tak piawai Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Polish: na zamówienie (pl), niestandardowy, na wymiar, na miarę, spersonalizowany Portuguese: sob medida, personalizado (pt) Russian: заказной (ru) (zakaznoj), изготовленный (ru) (izgotovlennyj), на заказ (ru) (na zakaz), нестандартный (ru) (nestandartnyj), подогнанный (ru) (podognannyj), пользовательский (ru) (polʹzovatelʹskij) Serbo-Croatian: po mjeri, po narudžbi, prilagođeni (sh) m, nestandardni (sh) m Slovak: zákaznícky, na mieru, na zakázku, neštandardný, prispôsobený, používateľský m Slovene: po meri, nestandardni Spanish: a medida, especializado (es), único (es), personalizado (es), por encargo, al pedido, con especificaciones, customizado (es) Tagalog: pasadya Ukrainian: замовний (zamovnyj), на замовлення (na zamovlennja), нестандартний (nestandartnyj), підігнаний (pidihnanyj) Yiddish: באַשטעלט (bashtelt)

See also

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• Thesaurus:custom-made

Verb

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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.
   • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The Second Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC, folio 52, recto:But yet a man might reply, that if a Shooemaker ſhould haue no Shooes in his Shoppe, but onely worke, as hee is beſpoken, hee ſhould bee weakley cuſtomed.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To pay the customs of.
   • c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act I:Barabas, thy ships are safe,Riding in Malta Rhode; and all the merchantsWith other merchandize are safe arriv'd,And have sent me to know whether yourselfWill come and custom them.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To have a custom.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 7, page 198:For on a Bridge he cuſtometh to fight, / Which is but narrow, but exceeding long; / And in the ſame are many trap fals pight, / Through which the rider downe doth fall through ouerſight.

Derived terms

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• customable
• uncustomed

Related terms

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

Further reading

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• “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.

Middle English

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Noun

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custom

1. alternative form of custume