customer

Definition

A habitual patron, regular purchaser, returning client; a person or company who has a custom of buying from a particular business.

Etymology

From Middle English customere, custommere, from Old French coustumier, costumier (compare modern French coutumier), from Medieval Latin custumarius (“a toll-gatherer, tax-collector”, noun), from custumarius (“pertaining to custom or customs”, adjective), from custuma (“custom, tax”). More at custom. By surface analysis, custom + -er.

Example Sentences

• "Every person who passes by is a potential customer."
• "Airlines are the chief customers of the commercial divisions of large-aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer."
• "a cool customer, a tough customer, an ugly customer"

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