client

American  

[klahy-uhnt] / ˈklaɪ ənt /

noun

• clients
  plural

1. a person or group that uses the professional advice or services of a lawyer, accountant, advertising agency, architect, etc.

2. a person who is receiving the benefits, services, etc., of a social welfare agency, a government bureau, etc.

3. a customer.

4. anyone under the patronage of another; a dependent.

5. Computers. a computer or an application on a computer that communicates with a remote server.

   Exit the program before installing the patch to update the client.

6. client state.

7. (in ancient Rome) a plebeian who lived under the patronage of a patrician.

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adjective

1. being a regular customer.

   a client company.

2. economically, and often militarily, dependent upon a more prosperous, more powerful nation.

client British  

/ ˈklaɪənt /

noun

1. a person, company, etc, that seeks the advice of a professional man or woman

2. a customer

3. a person who is registered with or receiving services or financial aid from a welfare agency

4. computing a program or work station that requests data or information from a server

5. a person depending on another's patronage

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client Scientific  

/ klī′ənt /

1. A program that runs on a personal computer or workstation connected to a computer network and requests information from a file server.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cliental
  adjective
• nonclient
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• clients
  plural

Etymology

Origin of client

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin client-, stem of cliēns “person seeking the protection or influence of someone powerful”; perhaps akin to clīnāre “to bend” ( see incline)

Explanation

If you pay for something, you are a client. If you pay to get your dog groomed, you are a client of the dog groomer (and so is your pooch). If you shop at a certain store or use the services of a particular business, then you are a client of that store or business. If you want to go into acting, for example, you'll need to become a client of a talent agent. In computer terms, a client is a computer that makes a request of another computer, called a server. The term client is especially used in networks where one server may handle multiple requests from multiple clients.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

client clients

Blacknell said prosecutors are trying to punish his client for a tragic accident.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The barrister said when it came to his client it was a question of "age, vulnerability and cognitive ability".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Mariaca's lawyer Romel Ipamo told local media that his client would "cooperate fully" with the investigation.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Plus, SpaceX needs to investigate the root cause of the early shutdown of one of Starship’s Raptor vacuum engines, he wrote in a client note.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

The Supreme Court had agreed to review Evan Miller's case and the case of our client from Arkansas, Kuntrell Jackson.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

“We’ll never lose the legacy of what Schroders has meant to the business world, to the family, what they’ve meant to the UK and their clients around the world,” Huffman told me.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

In a recent note to clients, Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney said European registration data will likely reflect a 25% to 35% sales decline in the third quarter compared with the same time last year.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

For easy identification, each office has been designed as the negative image of the other in a manner that mirrors their respective clients.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Hedge funds, PE structures, there’s a significant amount of earnings,” said Dianne Mehany of accounting firm EY, who advises high-net-worth clients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

UBS wasn’t conspiring against Bobby: They just wanted to get rid of one of their most public and foolish clients.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• applicant
• buyer
• consumer
• patient
• patron
• shopper