▪ I. † ˈcustomer, a. Obs.
[a. OF. costumier, coustumier customary, accustomed, wonted = Pr. costumier, cosdumnier, med.L. costumārius:—Rom. *costumnario for L. consuētūdinārius: see custom- and -er.]
Accustomed, wont.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8807 Who so euer þarto ys custummer. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 224 If thou were ever Custumere To fals semblaunt in any wise. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4939 Youthe, his chamberere That to done yvelle is custommere. c 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 134 The good lady was custumer to herburghe the holy profites. |
▪ II. customer, n.
(ˈkʌstəmə(r))
Forms: 5 custummere, costomer, 5–7 custumer, 6 customar, custymer, customyer, 7 custumier, 5– customer.
[In senses 1 and 2, and in 6, a. late AngloFr. custumer, med.L. custumārius = consuētūdinārius: see Du Cange. In other senses the word appears to be an Eng. formation upon custom.]
† 1. One who acquires ownership by long use or possession; a customary holder. Obs.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 111 Custummere, custumarius, usucaptor. |
† 2. An official who collects customs or dues; a custom-house officer. Obs.
| [See custom n. 4 a 1st quot.] 1448 Act 27 Hen. VI, c. 2 Chescun Custumer Countrollour Sercheour & Surveiour. a 1483 Liber Niger Edw. IV in Househ. Ord. 27 Corouners, custumers, countrollers, serchers. 1486 Act 3 Hen. VII, c. 8 The Customer or Comptroller of the same Port. 1509 Barclay Ship of Fooles (1570) 11 He shall be made a common Customer..of Lin, Callis, or of Deepe. 1548 Udall etc. Erasm. Par. Mark ii. 22 Sitting at the receipt of custome, for he was a publicane or customer. 1609 [see custom n. 4 a]. 1651 Bedell in Fuller's Abel Rediv., Erasmus (1867) I. 74 All the gold he brought with him..except five pounds, was seized..by the customers [at Dover]. 1748 St. James's Evening Post No. 5982 Lord Petersham..to be Customer, Collector, etc., in the Port of Dublin. |
3. a. ‘One who frequents any place of sale for the sake of purchasing’ (J.); one who customarily purchases from a particular tradesman; a buyer, purchaser. (The chief current sense.) Also attrib.
| c 1480 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 317 To w{supt}-draw from yo{supr} M., ne from no brother of þ⊇ craft, any of ther costomers. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §119, I saye to my customers, and those that bye any horses of me. 1592 Greene 3rd Pt. Connycatch. 33 His shop very well frequented with Customers. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 192 No Milliner can so fit his customers with Gloues. 1745 De Foe Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. viii. 59 Parcels fit to fill their shops, and invite their customers. 1832 Chambers's Jrnl. I. 276/4 When customer work failed, he was fain to work a piece upon speculation. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales I. 222 The alehouse..had neither customers nor host. 1863 Fawcett Pol. Econ. ii. x. (1876) 259. 1955 J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying (ed. 2) 98 Though the cost of these seals is comparatively high they have an established ‘customer-appeal’. 1964 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 19/2 The costs of customer placation (warranty costs, the costs of preventive and corrective service and maintenance, and the cost of maintaining spares stocks) must be added. 1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 416/1 The increase in distant-market customer-confidence. |
b. In extended use: an applicant or client.
| 1896 Westm. Gaz. 5 Dec. 4/2 A. R. Downer is the latest ‘customer’ for Bredin. He last night telegraphed..expressing his willingness to run the new professional 350 yards for {pstlg}50 a side. |
† 4. a. A person with whom one has dealings; a familiar associate or companion (of some one). Obs. (passing into sense 5).
| 1548 Hall Chron. 153 The wagoner came to the gate, called the porter..The porter (whiche wel knew the voice of his customer). 1562 T. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 81 To his accustomed customers he gat. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iv. 63 You Minion you, are these your Customers? 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 2 Lazy ignorance, or patient idlenesse, the common customers of the clergy. |
† b. A common woman, prostitute. Obs.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 287, I thinke thee now some common Customer. 1604 ― Oth. iv. i. 123, I marry her! What? a customer! |
5. colloq. A person to have to do with; usually with some qualifying adjective, as ugly, awkward, queer, rum, etc.: ‘chap’, ‘fellow’. Also used of animals.
| 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1590) 11 False witnes..is taken vp now for a custome of one lewd Customer. 1652 Heylin Cosmogr. To Rdr., Such a Countrey-customer I did meet with one. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxviii, An thou meetest with ugly customers o' the road. 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, Queer customers those monks. Ibid. xx, A precious seedy-looking customer. 1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross xxxiv. 268 A light-coloured fox beat him so often as to acquire the name of the ‘old customer’. 1863 Spring Lapl. 185 Certainly, a bull elk is an awkward customer when brought to bay. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 15 Feb. 9/2 Almost immediately a fox went away, and he proved to be a real customer. |
† 6. = customary n., custumal n. Obs.
| 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 331 That aide de Ran{cced}on (as it is calld in the Custumier of Normandie). 1771 Antiq. Sarisb. 29 From the Grand Customer of Normandy we learn, that Bordage was a base tenure. |
▸ customer-facing adj. of or relating to the prioritization or provision of a high level of customer service; of or relating to direct interaction with customers.
| 1989 Training & Devel. Jrnl. Dec. 56/3 The goal of TQS is to create a ‘*customer facing’ culture in which service quality is a dominant value. 1994 Sunday Times 6 Mar. vi. 9/3 (advt.) In this senior position, you must possess outstanding customer-facing skills. 2004 .Net Christmas 142/3 It means putting the reader first in every single word you write. Yet too often, even on the sites of big businesses whose marketing is otherwise highly sophisticated and customer-facing, it just doesn't happen. |