custody
/ˈkʌstədiː/
custody noun: the legal right to take care of something or somebody, especially children.
Noun
custody (usually uncountable, plural custodies)
- The legal right to take care of something or somebody, especially children.
- The court awarded custody to the child's father.
- The mother gained custody of the children.
- Temporary possession or care of somebody else's property.
- I couldn't pay the bill and now my passport is in custody of the hotel management.
- The state of being imprisoned or detained, usually pending a trial.
- He was mistreated while in police custody.
- Original petition for writ of habeas corpus to obtain release from custody under sentence to five years imprisonment for aiding coprisoners in endeavors to escape from jail.1958, Southern Reporter. Second Series, page 297
- An area under the jurisdiction of a custos within the Order of Friars Minor.
- The Custody of the Holy Land includes the monasteries of Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem.
custody meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
custody in Hindi
- legal right to take care of something or somebody
- अभिरक्षा abhirakṣā, हिफ़ाज़त hifāzat, हिफाजत hiphājat
- temporary possession
- अभिरक्षा abhirakṣā, हिफ़ाज़त hifāzat, हिफाजत hiphājat, रक्षा rakṣā
- state of being imprisoned or detained
- अभिरक्षण abhirakṣaṇ
custody in Tamil
- கவனிப்பு, காப்பு, காப்புப் பொறுப்பு, சிறை காப்பு, சிறைக் காப்பு, சிறைக்காவல்
custody in Urdu
- legal right to take care of something or somebody
- حِفاظَت hifāzat
- state of being imprisoned or detained
- حراست hirāsat
custody in Bengali
- legal right to take care of something or somebody
- হেফাজত hephajot
- state of being imprisoned or detained
- হেফাজত hephajot
More languagesFewer languages
- custody in Malayalam
- ബന്തവസ് bantavasŭ
- custody in Kannada
- ಕಾಹು, ಸುಪರ್ದು, ಅಧೀನ, ವಶ
- custody in Punjabi
- ਹਿਫ਼ਾਜ਼ਤ hifāzat, ਹਵਾਲਾ havālā, ਨਿਗਾਹ nigāh
- custody in Gujarati
- કસ્ટડી
- custody in Odia
- ପାଖ pākha
- custody in Nepali
- अभिरक्षा
- custody in Pashto
- نګاه nigāh
- custody in Arabic
- حَبْس ḥabs, حِرَاسَة نَظَرِيَّة ḥirāsa naẓariyya
- custody in Indonesian
- hak asuh, kustodi
Examples of custody in a sentence
- The journalists have been held in custody for three years without trial.
- The Prime Minister announced a thorough investigation into the death of a father-of-two in police custody.
- When assigning custody, the preference of the child will be considered, but it is not determinative.
Forms of custody
| plural | custodies |
|---|
Origin of custody
Borrowed from Latin custōdia (“a keeping, watch, guard, prison”), from custōs (“a keeper, watchman, guard”). Doublet of custode.
Words formed from custody
Phrases with custody
Questions about custody
- What does custody mean?
- Custody means the legal right to take care of something or somebody, especially children.
- What is custody in Hindi?
- Custody in Hindi is अभिरक्षा (abhirakṣā), हिफ़ाज़त (hifāzat), हिफाजत (hiphājat). See Custody meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is custody?
- Custody is a noun.
- How do you pronounce custody?
- Custody is pronounced /ˈkʌstədiː/.
- What is the plural of custody?
- The plural of custody is custodies.
Words near custody in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: custody (page history and authors); custody (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ബന്തവസ് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); custody (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਨਿਗਾਹ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); custody (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ପାଖ (Odia) (page history and authors); custody (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); نګاه (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-custody.wav.
Cite this entry: “custody.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/custody. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.