# customer

Pronunciation: US say "KUS-tuh-mur" /ˈkʌstəmɚ/; UK say "KUS-tuh-muh" /ˈkʌstəmə/

## Noun

1. A person or company that buys goods or services from a business, whether regularly or now and then, or that plans to do so.
   - Simple: A person or company that buys things or services from a shop or business, often or only sometimes.
   - _The company surveyed each customer after the sale._
   - _Loyal customers received early access to the new collection._
2. A person of a particular sort, usually described with an adjective, especially one that others have to deal with. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person, especially one you have to deal with in some way.
   - _Their lead negotiator proved a slippery customer at the table._
   - _The old tomcat was an awkward customer around visitors._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A local official who collected the customs duties owed on traded goods.

## Origin

The word comes from Middle English customere, from Old French coustumier, from Medieval Latin custumarius, which as a noun meant 'a toll-gatherer or tax-collector' and as an adjective meant 'pertaining to custom or customs', ultimately from custuma ('custom, tax'). It can also be analysed simply as 'custom' plus the suffix '-er'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/customer (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).