customary
/ˈkʌs.təˌmɛɹ.i/adjective, noun
customary is spelled C-U-S-T-O-M-A-R-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is custumary: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 62 of all searches for the word. Customary is an adjective meaning “In accordance with, or established by, custom or common usage”.
How many letters and syllables are in customary?
| Letters | 9: C-U-S-T-O-M-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.4 times per million words; the 14,307th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, custumary, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell customary?
Customary is spelled C-U-S-T-O-M-A-R-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 62 of the searches for customary in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is customary?
Customary appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce customary?
- UK /ˈkʌs.tə.m(ə.)ɹi/
- US /ˈkʌs.təˌmɛɹ.i/
Customary has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-customary.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of customary
- more customary comparative
- most customary superlative
- customaries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does customary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
In accordance with, or established by, custom or common usage.
- 2
Holding or held by custom.
customary tenants
noun
- 1
A book containing laws and usages, or customs; a custumal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Customary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | habituel, d'usage, coutumier |
| German | üblich |
| Spanish | acostumbrado, consuetudinario, consueto , sólito |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does customary come from?
From Middle English custumary, from Medieval Latin custumarius. By surface analysis, custom + -ary.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).