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customer

[kuhs-tuh-mer]
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noun

a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron.
Informal. a person one has to deal with: a tough customer; a cool customer.

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RELATED WORDS

client, consumer, patron, purchaser, prospect, clientele

Nearby words

  1. custom-make,
  2. custom-order,
  3. custom-tailor,
  4. customable,
  5. customary,
  6. customer relationship management,
  7. customer's man,
  8. customer-facing,
  9. customise,
  10. customize

Origin of customer

1400–50; late Middle English; see custom, -er1; compare Middle English customer collector of customs < Anglo-French; Old French costumier, cognate with Medieval Latin custumārius; see customary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for customer

British Dictionary definitions for customer

customer

noun

a person who buys
informal a person with whom one has dealingsa cool customer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for customer
n.

late 14c., "customs official;" later "buyer" (early 15c.), from Anglo-French custumer, from Medieval Latin custumarius, from Latin consuetudinarius (see custom (n.)). More generalized meaning "a person with whom one has dealings" emerged 1540s; that of "a person to deal with" (usually wth an adjective, tough, etc.) is by 1580s. In Shakespeare, the word also can mean "prostitute."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with customer

customer

see ugly customer.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.