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customary

UK/ˈkʌs.tə.m(ə.)ɹi/US/ˈkʌs.təˌmɛɹ.i/
adjectiveC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,643 of 15,258leans written

Customary means usual, according to long practice. The customary greeting, it is customary to, customary practice.

It is more formal than usual and carries the weight of how things have always been done. In law, customary law is unwritten rule established by long practice, which is how much of international law and many land rights are held.

Definitions of customary

  1. 1adjectivecustomaryUsual, according to long practice.C1

    “It is customary in Japan to take off your shoes before entering a home.”

customary is a quality of practice.

Where it comes from

Medieval Latin custumarius comes from custuma, custom, from Latin consuetudo, habit, from suescere, to be accustomed.

  1. Medieval Latin

    custumarius

  2. Middle English

    custumary

  3. English, today

    customary

From Middle English custumary, from Medieval Latin custumarius. by surface analysis, custom + -ary.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

customary in the wild

  • The United States customary system developed from English units that were in use in the British Empire before the U.S. became an independent country.

    United States customary units

  • The United States uses customary units in commercial activities, as well as for personal and social use.

    United States customary units

  • Miles per hour is a British imperial and United States customary unit of speed expressing the number of miles travelled in one hour.

    Miles per hour

  • Most customary laws deal with standards of the community that have been long-established in a given locale.

    Customary law

  • Since 1959, there is no difference in the US customary pound and the British imperial pound.

    Avoirdupois

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the custumarius family

customercustomary

customary — used about once every 1,524 pages · #5,643 · point at the bar for the others

  • custom