Etymologically
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custom

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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
  • 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