client
Pluralclients
- 1A person who buys or receives goods or services from a business.
The hair salon gives every client a small gift in December.
Happy clients often tell their friends about a good dog groomer.
UsageUse client mostly for services, like lawyers or salons. Shops usually have customers.
- 2A computer program or device that asks a server for information or services.
Like a customer at a restaurant: the client asks for something, and the server brings it.
Your email client checks for new messages every few minutes.
When the client cannot reach the server, the page will not load.
Oppositeserver
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- 3Short form of client state. Use it when talking about a country that depends on a stronger country.
After the war, the defeated nation became a client of its powerful neighbor.
The tiny island acted as a client, following its protector's lead in foreign affairs.
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Less common meaning
- 4In ancient Rome, a person who depended on a powerful family and served it in return for protection.
In ancient Rome, a client greeted his patron at his home every morning.
The nomen belonged to all members of a gens and to all those attached to it (women, clients, and freedmen included).
1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian NamesHere, clients means followers attached to a Roman family group or clan.Oppositepatron
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Practice
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Origin
From Latin "cliēns", possibly related to "clinare", meaning "to lean". It came into English through Old French and Anglo-Norman.