- customer
- 14c., "customs official;" later "buyer" (early 15c.), from Anglo-Fr. custumer, from M.L. custumarius, from L. consuetudinarius (see custom). More generalized meaning "a person with whom one has dealings" emerged 1540s; that of "a person to deal with" (usually wth an adjective, tough, etc.) is by 1580s. In Shakespeare, the word also can mean "prostitute."