custom

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkʌs.təm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English custume, borrowed from Old French costume, custume,^[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *consuetumen, from Latin cōnsuētūdō (“habit, usage”),^[2][3] from cōnsuētus, the past participle of cōnsuēscere (“to accustom”), from com- and suēscere (“to become used to”), related to suī “of oneself”.^[2][3][5] It is a doublet of costume.^[3][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A habitual practice of a person or a community: about 1200 in the OED and Etymonline.^[7][2][3] An Old English word for it was þēaw.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A tax or tribute is from about 1325–30, and gradually replaced Old English toll in this sense;^[7][3] customs, duties on imports, were first, about 1390, charges by a lord on goods going to market.^[3][6] In law, a usage that has the force of law is from about 1400.^[7] The practice of buying regularly from one shop is from 1596,^[7][2] from which a customer is a regular buyer; before 1399 it was a customs official.^[3][6] The custom-house is from the late 15th century, and customs, the area where luggage is examined, by 1921.^[2][7] The adjective, made to order for a particular customer, is by 1830.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – habitual practice.^[7][2]
• c. 1325 – a tax or toll.^[7]
• c. 1390 – customs, duties.^[3]
• c. 1400 – in law.^[7]
• 1596 – regular buying at a shop.^[7]
• 1830 – adjective, made to order.^[2]
• 1921 – customs at a port.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A practice followed by people of a particular group or place; a tradition.
2. A habit of a single person.
3. (law) A long-established practice that has the force of law.
4. Regular buying from a shop or business.
5. (customs) Duties on imports, or the place at a border where goods and luggage are checked.

Adjective

1. Made to order for a particular buyer.

Word family

• custom-built
• custom-made
• custom-make
• customable
• custom house

Related words

• consuetude
• costume
• customary
• customer
• customize
• accustom

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press