Definitions for custom
ˈkʌs təmcus·tom

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.5 / 6 votes

1. custom, usage, usancenoun

   accepted or habitual practice

2. custom, traditionnoun

   a specific practice of long standing

3. customs, customs duty, custom, impostnoun

   money collected under a tariff

4. customadjective

   habitual patronage

   "I have given this tailor my custom for many years"

5. custom-made, customadjective

   made according to the specifications of an individual

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.7 / 7 votes

1. customnoun

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

2. customnoun

   Habitual buying of goods; practice of frequenting, as a shop, manufactory, etc., for making purchases or giving orders; business support.

3. customnoun

   Long-established practice, considered as unwritten law, and resting for authority on long consent; usage. See Usage, and Prescription.

4. customnoun

   Familiar acquaintance; familiarity.

5. customnoun

   The customary toll, tax, or tribute.

6. customnoun

   created under particular specifications, specialized, unique, custom-made

7. customverb

   To make familiar; to accustom.

8. customverb

   To supply with customers.

9. customverb

   To pay the customs of.

10. customverb

    To have a custom.

11. customadjective

    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.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. CUSTOMnoun

   Etymology: coustume, French.

   1. Habit; habitual practice.

   Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
   That mothers shall but smile, when they behold
   Their infants quarter’d by the hands of war;
   All pity choak’d with custom of fell deeds. William Shakespeare, Jul. Cæsar.

   Custom, a greater power than nature, seldom fails to make them worship. John Locke.

   2. Fashion; common way of acting.3. Established manner.

   According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. Luk. i.

   And the priests custom with the people was, that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servants came, while the flesh was in, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hands. 1 Sa ii.

   4. Practise of buying of certain persons.

   You say he is assiduous in his calling, and is he not grown rich by it? Let him have your custom, but not your votes. Add.

   5. Application from buyers; as, this trader has good custom.6. [In law.]A law or right, not written, which, being established by long use, and the consent of our ancestors, has been, and is, daily practised. We cannot say that this or that is a custom, except we can justify that it hath continued so one hundred years; yet, because that is hard to prove, it is enough for the proof of a custom, if two or more can depose that they heard their fathers say, that it was a custom all their time; and that their fathers heard their fathers also say, that it was likewise a custom in their time. If it is to be proved by record, the continuance of a hundred years will serve. Custom is either general or particular: general, that which is current through England; particular is that which belongs to this or that county; as gavelkind to Kent, or this or that lordship, city, or town. Custom differs from prescription; for custom is common to more, and prescription is particular to this or that man: prescription may be for a far shorter time than custom. John Cowell7. Tribute; tax paid for goods imported, or exported.

   The residue of these ordinary finances be casual or uncertain, as be the escheats and forfeitures, the customs, butlerage, and imposts. Francis Bacon.

   Those commodities may be dispersed, after having paid the customs, in England. William Temple.

   Customs to steal is such a trivial thing,
   That ’tis their charter to defraud their king. Dryden.

   Strabo tells you, that Britain bore heavy taxes, especially the customs on the importation of the Gallick trade. Arbuthnot.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. Customnoun

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

2. Customnoun

   habitual buying of goods; practice of frequenting, as a shop, manufactory, etc., for making purchases or giving orders; business support

3. Customnoun

   long-established practice, considered as unwritten law, and resting for authority on long consent; usage. See Usage, and Prescription

4. Customnoun

   familiar aquaintance; familiarity

5. Customverb

   to make familiar; to accustom

6. Customverb

   to supply with customers

7. Customverb

   to have a custom

8. Customnoun

   the customary toll, tax, or tribute

9. Customnoun

   duties or tolls imposed by law on commodities, imported or exported

10. Customverb

    to pay the customs of

11. Etymology: [OF. coustume, F. coutume, tax, i. e., the usual tax. See 1st Custom.]

FreebaseRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. Custom

   Custom in law is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Related is the idea of prescription; a right enjoyed through long custom rather than positive law. Customary law exists where: ⁕a certain legal practice is observed and ⁕the relevant actors consider it to be law. Most customary laws deal with standards of community that have been long-established in a given locale. However the term can also apply to areas of international law where certain standards have been nearly universal in their acceptance as correct bases of action - in example, laws against piracy or slavery. In many, though not all instances, customary laws will have supportive court rulings and case law that has evolved over time to give additional weight to their rule as law and also to demonstrate the trajectory of evolution in the interpretation of such law by relevant courts.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Custom

   kus′tum, n. what one is wont to do: usage: frequent repetition of the same act: regular trade or business: a tax on goods: (pl.) duties imposed on imports and exports.—adj. Cus′tomable, customary: common.—adv. Cus′tomarily.—n. Cus′tomariness.—adjs. Cus′tomary, according to use and wont: holding or held by custom; Cus′tomed, accustomed: usual.—ns. Cus′tomer, one accustomed to frequent a certain place of business: a buyer: (slang) a person; Cus′tom-house, the place where customs or duties on exports and imports are collected.—adj. Cus′tom-shrunk (Shak.), having fewer customers than formerly. [O. Fr. custume, costume—L. consuetud-inem, consuescĕre, to accustom.]

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. custom

   The toll paid by merchants to the crown for goods exported or imported; otherwise called duty.--Custom of the country, a small present to certain authorities in the less frequented ports, being equally gift and bribe.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. custom

   Song lyrics by custom -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by custom on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Duty
   • Practice
   • Survival

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'custom' in Nouns Frequency: #1181

Anagrams for custom »

1. muscot

How to pronounce custom?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say custom in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of custom in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of custom in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of custom in a Sentence

1. The FATF:

   From the data and the on-site discussions it seems that custom officials would generally not pro-actively question a traveler who declares such large sums of cash.

2. Blaire Moskowitz:

   Sarah Jessica Parker revealed how she was in awe of the designer during fittings for a custom piece, and when the two of them rode together to the Met ball, they remained respectively shy of one another.

3. Trey Ganem of SoulShine Industries:

   We don't just put a vinyl wrap on top. We actually custom paint every single one. We take the casket completely apart, and we paint the hardware, we paint the bars, the class and the passion that we put into these is bar none.

4. An NBA spokesperson:

   Based on attempts to include violent, abusive and hateful messages on personalized NBA jerseys, the personalization feature has been disabled on NBAStore.com, fanatics, the operator of our online store, isconducting a further review to establish appropriate safeguards and ensure that this feature is not used to promote violence, hate or abuse of any kind. Hawley blasted the leagues decision. Rather than let fans order #FreeHongKong jerseys @nba kills custom gear altogether.

5. Mutsuhiro Takeuchi:

   But there was absolutely no cannibalism, that is not our custom.

Popularity rank by frequency of use