custom

Cus"tom , v. t. To pay the customs of. [Obs.]

Marlowe.

Cus"tom , n. [OF. coustume, F. coutume, tax, i. e., the usual tax. See 1st Custom.]

1. The customary toll, tax, or tribute.

Render, therefore, to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom.
Rom. xiii. 7.

2. pl. Duties or tolls imposed by law on commodities, imported or exported.

Cus"tom , v. i. To have a custom. [Obs.]

On a bridge he custometh to fight.
Spenser.

Cus"tom , v. t. [Cf. OF. costumer. Cf. Accustom.]

1. To make familiar; to accustom. [Obs.] Gray.

2. To supply with customers. [Obs.] Bacon.

Cus"tom (kŭs"tŭm), n. [OF. custume, costume, Anglo-Norman coustome, F. coutume, fr. (assumed) LL. consuetumen custom, habit, fr. L. consuetudo, - dinis, fr. consuescere to accustom, verb inchoative fr. consuere to be accustomed; con- + suere to be accustomed, prob. originally, to make one's own, fr. the root of suus one's own; akin to E. so, adv. Cf. Consuetude, Costume.]

1. Frequent repetition of the same act; way of acting common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; usage; method of doing or living.

And teach customs which are not lawful.
Acts xvi. 21.

Moved beyond his custom, Gama said.
Tennyson.

A custom
More honored in the breach than the observance.
Shak.

2. Habitual buying of goods; practice of frequenting, as a shop, manufactory, etc., for making purchases or giving orders; business support.

Let him have your custom, but not your votes.
Addison.

3. (Law) Long-established practice, considered as unwritten law, and resting for authority on long consent; usage. See Usage, and Prescription.

&fist; Usage is a fact. Custom is a law. There can be no custom without usage, though there may be usage without custom. Wharton.

4. Familiar aquaintance; familiarity. [Obs.]

Age can not wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety.
Shak.

Custom of merchants, a system or code of customs by which affairs of commerce are regulated. -- General customs, those which extend over a state or kingdom. -- Particular customs, those which are limited to a city or district; as, the customs of London.

Syn. -- Practice; fashion. See Habit, and Usage.