client

[klahy-uhnt]

noun

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.

adjective

1. being a regular customer.

   a client company.

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

client

/ ˈklaɪənt, klaɪˈɛntəl /

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

client

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

Other Word Forms

• cliental adjective
• nonclient adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of client¹

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” ( incline )

Word History and Origins

Origin of client¹

C14: from Latin cliēns retainer, dependant; related to Latin clīnāre to lean

Example Sentences

It is the latest acquisition by the Wall Street firm to broaden its offerings to clients outside of traditional investing and furthers Chief Executive David Solomon’s goal of building up the bank’s asset-management division.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In this round, it isn’t Credit Suisse’s lending in question, but how it handled payments coming into a Credit Suisse client account from Mozambique’s Finance Ministry.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They tell clients in a note that data show ANZ is lagging its major bank peers on growth in mortgages, business lending and deposits.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The company is now losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue each month as its clients go elsewhere.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“The criminal complaint made a lot of allegations that our client rammed them. There were all these reports that our client had an assault weapon or was a domestic terrorist,” he said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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