# customer

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkʌstəmə/ · frequency rank #2,434

## Definitions
1. A habitual patron, regular purchaser, returning client; a person or company who has a custom of buying from a particular business.
2. A patron, a client; a person or company who purchases or receives a product or service from a business or merchant, or intends to do so.
3. A person, especially one engaging in some sort of interaction with others.
4. A native official who exacted customs duties.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **customs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/customer-vs-customs)
- **customers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/customer-vs-customers)
- **custom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/custom-vs-customer)
- **customary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/customary-vs-customer)

## Common misspellings (12)
`ccustomer`, `csutomer`, `cusotmer`, `cusstomer`, `custmoer`, `custoemr`, `customerr`, `custommer`, `customre`, `custtomer`, `cutsomer`, `ucstomer`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/customer