custom

noun cus·tom \ ˈkə-stəm \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: custom in a Sentence

Definition of custom

1 a : a usage or practice common to many or to a particular place or class or habitual with an individual

It is the custom in New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras.

funeral customs

b : long-established practice considered as unwritten law

c : repeated practice

Custom makes all things easy.

d : the whole body of usages, practices, or conventions that regulate social life

… family, kinship, and custom constituted the grounds of community.
—V. B. Leitch

2 customs plural

a : duties, tolls, or imposts imposed by the sovereign law of a country on imports or exports

b usually singular in construction : the agency, establishment, or procedure for collecting such customs

went through customs at the airport without any difficulty

3 a : business patronage (see patronage 4)

b : usually habitual patrons : customers

See custom defined for English-language learners

See custom defined for kids

Examples of custom in a Sentence

It is the custom for the bride to wear a white dress on her wedding day.
According to custom, the festivities begin at dusk.
It's a matter of custom.
We went through customs at the airport without any difficulty.
It took us a long time to clear customs at the border.

Recent Examples of custom from the Web

The third grader ended up with not one but two of them, one of which was custom painted to match his skin tone.

— CBS News, "Boy missing part of his arm gets 3-D printed "upgrade"," 5 June 2018
The five houses on the site were custom built by Tumbleweed Tiny House Co. of Colorado Springs, Colo., and range from 181 square feet to a comparatively gargantuan 309 square feet.

— katheleen conti, BostonGlobe.com, "Tiny home village offers fun-sized travel experience," 4 June 2018
The sprawling 31,000-square-foot property (featured on toptenrealestatedeals.com) overlooks Windemere, Florida’s Lake Butler and features 12 bedrooms —The master features a custom 15-foot-wide Superman-themed bed — and 15 bathrooms.

— people staff, PEOPLE.com, "Shaq Lists His Super-Size Orlando-Area Estate For $28 Million: See Inside," 31 May 2018
Two firetrucks parked facing each other near the Cook County medical center with their ladders up, which is custom when a firefighter dies on duty.

— Fox News, "Chicago Fire Department diver seeking missing boater dies in river," 29 May 2018
If someone, hypothetically, wanted to get a custom uniform like Harry's, how much would that cost approximately?

— cam wolf, GQ, "Prince Harry’s Royal Wedding Tailors Tell Us What It Takes to Make a Uniform for a Prince," 20 May 2018
For months on end, the fashion industry has speculated who would design Markle's custom Givenchy haute couture dress for the big day.

— refinery29.com, "Meghan Markle's Wedding Dress Designer Is Clare Waight Keller Of Givenchy," 19 May 2018
Both brides wore long-sleeve gowns, but Middleton went with a lace Alexander McQueen while Markle opted for a custom simple Givenchy boat-neck gown.

— megan decker, Harper's BAZAAR, "VOTE: Which Royal Wedding Did You Prefer, Kate Middleton's or Meghan Markle's?," 19 May 2018
Later in the day on Monday, Fonda changed into a custom white suit by Alberta Ferretti for the Trophée Chopard event.

— erika harwood, Vanities, "Jane Fonda Is Having an Exceptionally Fashionable Cannes," 15 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'custom.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of custom

Middle English custume, from Anglo-French, from Latin consuetudin-, consuetudo, from consuescere to accustom, from com- + suescere to accustom; akin to suus one's own — more at suicide

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

custom Synonyms

Synonyms

fashion, habit, habitude, pattern, practice (also practise), ritual, second nature, trick, way, wont;

Related Words

addiction;

disposition;

bent, inclination, proclivity, set, tendency, tenor, turn;

bag, convention, form, mode, style;

usage, use;

deportment, manners, mores;

drill, groove, jog trot, regime (also régime), regimen, rote, routine, rut;

affectation, airs, pose;

attribute, characteristic, mark, trait;

Synonym Discussion of custom

habit, practice, usage, custom, wont mean a way of acting fixed through repetition. habit implies a doing unconsciously and often compulsively.

- had a habit of tapping his fingers

practice suggests an act or method followed with regularity and usually through choice.

- our practice is to honor all major credit cards

usage suggests a customary action so generally followed that it has become a social norm.

- western-style dress is now common usage in international business

custom applies to a practice or usage so steadily associated with an individual or group as to have almost the force of unwritten law.

- the custom of wearing black at funerals

wont usually applies to a habitual manner, method, or practice of an individual or group.

- as was her wont, she slept until noon

custom

adjective

Definition of custom

1 : made or performed according to personal order

2 : specializing in custom work or operation

a custom tailor

See custom defined for English-language learners

Examples of custom in a Sentence

The new kitchen will have custom cabinets.
that business tycoon wears only custom suits

Recent Examples of custom from the Web

To preserve the architectural details, Tackett camouflaged the sprinkler and security systems, reused the original pendant lights, and created custom acoustical panels.

— inga saffron, Philly.com, "How a Philadelphia lawyer turned a historic bank into a shrine to democracy (and his legal career)," 3 June 2018
As an alternative, the researchers built a 10 millimeter by 30 millimeter IMBED with custom genetic circuitry and tested it in pigs.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "This capsule of glowing E. coli will probe your gut for signs of trouble," 25 May 2018
The goal is to take the pain out of AI coding, and instead train custom vision models through an image recognition tool.

— dami lee, The Verge, "Google’s machine learning software can now categorize ramen by shop," 2 Apr. 2018
Some of their most recent launches have been custom capsule collections for retailers that range from Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys New York to Patron of the New.

— steff yotka, Vogue, "No Fashion Week Show? It’s No Problem For These Three Buzzy Brands," 8 Feb. 2018
The restaurant's build-out was long and complex, requiring a from-scratch kitchen, the dramatic and highly custom wine cellar and an added-on patio.

— kate washington, sacbee, "If Allora can learn to relax a little, it will be one of the city's best restaurants | The Sacramento Bee," 11 May 2018
To continue her '90s supermodel moment from head-to-nail, Kardashian West wore a set of custom press-on nails that were a collaboration between manicurists Tom Bachik and Pattie Yankee.

— jenna rosenstein, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kim Kardashian Wore a French Manicure To The Met Gala Last Night And We Don't Know How To Feel," 8 May 2018
Keller has been working to develop custom silicon for Autopilot, potentially replacing the Nvidia chips being used in today's Tesla vehicles.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "Tesla Autopilot crisis deepens with loss of third Autopilot boss in 18 months," 26 Apr. 2018
Last week, Slack, the company whose popular, plaid-themed messaging app has simplified office communications and introduced custom fox emoji into our daily routines, quietly released its 2017 diversity report.

— jessica nordell, The Atlantic, "How Slack Got Ahead in Diversity," 26 Apr. 2018

Origin and Etymology of custom

see ¹custom

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1757

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

custom Synonyms

CUSTOM Defined for English Language Learners

custom

noun

Definition of custom for English Language Learners

: an action or way of behaving that is usual and traditional among the people in a particular group or place
: something that is done regularly by a person
customs : taxes or fees that are paid to the government when goods come into or go out of a country

custom

adjective

Definition of custom for English Language Learners

: made to fit the needs or requirements of a particular person
: doing work that fits the needs or requirements of a particular person

CUSTOM Defined for Kids

custom

noun cus·tom \ ˈkə-stəm \

Definition of custom for Students

1 : the usual way of doing things : the usual practice

2 customs plural : duties or taxes paid on imports or exports

3 : support given to a business by its customers

Buyers grew tired of waiting … and … took their custom elsewhere.
—Linda Sue Park, A Single Shard

custom

adjective

Definition of custom for Students

1 : made or done to personal order

custom furniture

2 : specializing in work done to personal order

a custom printer

Headscratcher for custom

Custom means the usual way of doing things, but custom can also mean that something has been made according to a special order.

Law Dictionary

custom

noun cus·tom

legal Definition of custom

1 : a practice common to many or to a particular place or institution; especially : a long-established practice that is generally recognized as having the force of law — see also section 1983 — compare usage

2 plural

a : duties, tolls, or imposts imposed by the law of a country on imports or exports

b usually singular in construction : the agency, establishment, or procedure for collecting such customs