customer Meaning, Definition & Usage

Cus"tom*er noun

Etymology

A doublet of customary, a.: cf. LL. custumarius toll gatherer. See Custom.

Definitions

1. One who collect customs; a toll gatherer. Obs.

   The customers of the small or petty custom and of the subsidy do demand of them custom for kersey cloths. Hakluyt.

2. One who regularly or repeatedly makes purchases of a trader; a purchaser; a buyer.

   He has got at last the character of a good customer; by this means he gets credit for something considerable, and then never pays for it. Goldsmith.

3. A person with whom a business house has dealings; as, the customers of a bank. J. A. H. Murray.
4. A peculiar person; -- in an indefinite sense; as, a queer customer; an ugly customer. Colloq. Dickens.
5. A lewd woman. Obs. Shak.