Word.ws English Dictionary

custom

/ˈkʌstəm/

custom noun: frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving.

Noun

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.
    • A custom
      More honour'd in the breach than the observance.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...
  2. (dated outside UK) Habitual buying of goods from one same vendor.
    • Thank you for your custom.
    • Let him have your custom, but not your votes.1710 September 28, Joseph Addison, The Whig Examiner, number 3
    1. (collective, dated outside UK) The habitual patrons (i.e. customers) of a business; business support.
  3. Long-established practice, considered as unwritten law, and resting for authority on long consent. Compare prescription.
    • 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.1888, Francis Wharton, A Commentary on the Law of Evidence in Civil Issues, 3rd edition, volume 2, page 188
    Synonyms:
    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.
    • 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 possible2019 May 31, Abella Art & Design, tweet
    • 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.2020 July 28, “Paying for porn: How much is appropriate?”, in Slate Magazine
  6. (obsolete) Familiar acquaintance; familiarity.
    • Age can not wither her, nor custom stale
      Her infinite variety.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...
  7. (archaic, uncountable) Toll, tax, or tribute.
    • Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.1769, Bible, Authorised King James Version, Oxford standard text, Romans, xiii, 7

Adjective

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.
    • 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) Done on a for-hire basis, as contrasted with being done only for oneself.
    • custom threshing
    • custom baling
  4. (archaic) Accustomed; usual.

Verb

custom (third-person singular simple present customs, present participle customing, simple past and past participle customed)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) 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. (obsolete, transitive) To supply with customers.
    • 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.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...
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To pay the customs of.
    • Barabas, thy ships are safe,
      Riding in Malta Rhode; and all the merchants
      With other merchandize are safe arriv'd,
      And have sent me to know whether yourself
      Will come and custom them.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...
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To have a custom.
    • 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.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

custom meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

custom in Hindi

frequent repetition of the same act
प्रथा prathā, रीति rīti, रीत rīt
long-established practice
प्रथा prathā, रीति rīti, परंपरा paramparā
the customary toll, tax, or tribute
सीमा शुल्क sīmā śulk

custom in Tamil

frequent repetition of the same act
வழமை vaḻamai
long-established practice
வழமை vaḻamai

custom in Marathi

custom
रीत rīt
custom, practice
पद्धत paddhat

custom in Urdu

frequent repetition of the same act
رواج rivāj, رسم rasm, ضابطہ zābita, عرف 'urf
More languagesFewer languages
custom in Bengali
প্রথা protha, রসম rośom, রেওয়াজ reōẇaj, আদত adot
custom in Telugu
ఆచారము ācāramu, ప్రచారము pracāramu, అలవాటు alavāṭu, ప్రత్యయము pratyayamu
custom in Malayalam
ആചാരം ācāraṁ
custom in Kannada
ಕಟ್ಟಳೆ kaṭṭaḷe
custom in Punjabi
ਰੀਤ rīt, ਰਿਵਾਜ rivāj, ਰਸਮ rasam, ਦਸਤੂਰ dastūr
custom in Gujarati
ધારો dhāro, વહેવાર vahevār, પ્રનાલિકા pranālikā, રિવાજ rivāj
custom in Odia
ପାଠ pāṭha, କାଇଦା kāidā
custom in Sanskrit
स्वधा svadhā́, कुल्या kulyā, आचार ācāra, समाचार samācāra
custom in Sinhala
ආදායම ādāyama
custom in Assamese
ডাঁৰা dãra
custom in Nepali
चलन calan
custom in Pashto
دود dod, رسم rásəm, عرف orf
custom in Tagalog
ugali, pasadya
custom in Arabic
عَادَة ʕāda, عُرْف ʕurf
custom in Malay
adat, kebiasaan, kelaziman, langganan
custom in Indonesian
adat, menurut pesanan, khusus, pribadi
custom in Persian
رسم rasm, عادت 'âdat, هند hand, عرف 'orf
custom in Thai
แบบแผน bɛ̀ɛp-pɛ̌ɛn, ธรรมเนียม tam-niiam, จารีต jaa-rîit
custom in Vietnamese
tập quán, phong tục, tục lệ
custom in Myanmar
ထုံးစံ htum:cam, ဓလေ့ dha.le.

Examples of custom in a sentence

  • 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.
  • 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.a. 1627 (date written), Francis Bacon, “A.D. 1610. Ætat. 50.”, in James Spedding, editor, The Works of Francis Bacon, […]: The Letters and...

All 40 example sentences with custom

Synonyms of custom

5 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of custom

Forms of custom

Noun
pluralcustoms
Verb
third-person singular presentcustoms
present participlecustoming
past participlecustomed
pastcustomed

Plural of custom: customs

Origin of custom

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 and sidu. Doublet of costume, consuetude, and kastom. The adjectival form first appears c. 1830.

Words formed from custom

Phrases with custom

Questions about custom

What does custom mean?
Custom means frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving.
What is custom in Hindi?
Custom in Hindi is प्रथा (prathā), रीति (rīti), रीत (rīt). See Custom meaning in Hindi.
How do you use custom in a sentence?
The amount of high-end equipment that he maintains is justified by the fact that he does a lot of custom tillage and combining.
What part of speech is custom?
Custom can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce custom?
Custom is pronounced /ˈkʌstəm/.
What is the plural of custom?
The plural of custom is customs.

Words near custom in the dictionary

  1. custodiers
  2. custodies
  3. Custodio
  4. Custodios
  5. custody
  6. custom
  7. custom and practice
  8. custom car
  9. custom cars
  10. custom house
  11. custom houses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: custom (page history and authors); पद्धत (Marathi) (page history and authors); అలవాటు (Telugu) (page history and authors); ಕಟ್ಟಳೆ (Kannada) (page history and authors); واٹ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); કાનૂન (Gujarati) (page history and authors); କାଇଦା (Odia) (page history and authors); आचार (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); ආදායම (Sinhala) (page history and authors); ডাঁৰা (Assamese) (page history and authors); चलन (Nepali) (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-custom.ogg.

Cite this entry: “custom.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/custom. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.