customer
/ˈkʌs.tə.mə/noun
customer is spelled C-U-S-T-O-M-E-R: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 41 times per million words in written English, the 2,438th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, customer means “A person or company who purchases or receives a product or service from a business or merchant or intends to do so” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of customer is customers.
How many letters and syllables are in customer?
| Letters | 8: C-U-S-T-O-M-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 41 times per million words; the 2,438th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is customer?
Customer appears 41 times per million words in written English, the 2,438th 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 customer?
- UK /ˈkʌs.tə.mə/
- /ˈkʌs.tə.mɚ/
- Australia /ˈkɐs.tə.mə/
Customer has 3 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-customer.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with customer?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as customer (/ʌstəmə/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: costumer.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of customer
- customers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does customer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA habitual patron, regular purchaser, returning client; a person or company who has a custom of buying from a particular business.
- 2
A person or company who purchases or receives a product or service from a business or merchant or intends to do so.
Every person who passes by is a potential customer.
- 3
informalA person, especially one engaging in some sort of interaction with others.
a cool customer, a tough customer, an ugly customer
- 4
IndiaA native official who exacted customs duties.
His houses […] are seized on by the Customer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate customer?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of customer: cust.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Customer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chaland, chalande , client, cliente |
| German | Stammkunde , Abnehmer, Abnehmerin, Käufer, Käuferin, Kunde |
| Spanish | parroquiano, casero, marchante, vecero , cliente |
| Portuguese | freguês, freguesa, cliente |
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 customer come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).