CUSTOM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does custom mean? 

• CUSTOM (noun)
  The noun CUSTOM has 4 senses:

1. accepted or habitual practice

2. a specific practice of long standing

3. money collected under a tariff

4. habitual patronage

  Familiarity information: CUSTOM used as a noun is uncommon.

• CUSTOM (adjective)
  The adjective CUSTOM has 1 sense:

1. made according to the specifications of an individual

  Familiarity information: CUSTOM used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CUSTOM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Accepted or habitual practice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

custom; usage; usance

Hypernyms ("custom" is a kind of...):

pattern; practice (a customary way of operation or behavior)

survival (something that survives)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "custom"):

Americanism (a custom that is peculiar to the United States or its citizens)

Anglicism; Britishism (a custom that is peculiar to England or its citizens)

consuetude (a custom or usage that has acquired the force of law)

couvade (a custom among some peoples whereby the husband of a pregnant wife is put to bed at the time of bearing the child)

Germanism (a custom that is peculiar to Germany or its citizens)

habit; use ((psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition)

hijab (the custom in some Islamic societies of women dressing modestly outside the home)

rite; ritual (any customary observance or practice)

Derivation:

customary (commonly used or practiced; usual)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A specific practice of long standing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

custom; tradition

Hypernyms ("custom" is a kind of...):

practice (knowledge of how something is usually done)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "custom"):

habit; wont (an established custom)

Hadith ((Islam) a tradition based on reports of the sayings and activities of Muhammad and his companions)

institution (a custom that for a long time has been an important feature of some group or society)

Derivation:

customary (in accordance with convention or custom)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Money collected under a tariff

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

custom; customs; customs duty; impost

Hypernyms ("custom" is a kind of...):

duty; tariff (a government tax on imports or exports)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "custom"):

ship money (an impost levied in England to provide money for ships for national defense)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Habitual patronage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

I have given this tailor my custom for many years

Hypernyms ("custom" is a kind of...):

patronage; trade (the business given to a commercial establishment by its customers)

• CUSTOM (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Made according to the specifications of an individual

Synonyms:

custom; custom-made

Similar:

bespoke; bespoken; made-to-order; tailor-made; tailored ((of clothing) custom-made)

custom-built; made-to-order (built for a particular individual)

 Context examples 

“It seems to be a curious class of custom that is done by the Fighting Cock,” said Holmes.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Was it your custom always to lock yourselves in at night?”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I described to him how, when according to his custom he was the first down, he perceived a strange horse wandering over the moor.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Whether those pleading orators were persons educated in the general knowledge of equity, or only in provincial, national, and other local customs?

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Thus we landed on Endeavour Island, as we came to it, land-sick from long custom of the sea.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Buck, as was his custom, was lying in a corner, head on paws, watching his master’s every action.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

When the Doctor and I were engaged, he now fell into the custom of walking up and down with Mrs. Strong, and helping her to trim her favourite flowers, or weed the beds.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

After all, however, there is nothing like custom, for neither Bilder nor his wife thought any more of the wolf than I should of a dog.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It is an old custom of the house, young sir.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was a very silent man by custom.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)