customer

Pronunciation: /ˈkʌs.tə.mə/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun someone who pays for goods or services

Etymology

From Middle English custumer, 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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

client

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
consumer
Narrower (hyponyms)
whoremaster, subscriber, shopper, buyer, policyholder, spender

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