customs
noun
[ ˈkʌstəmz ]
• the official department that administers and collects the duties levied by a government on imported goods.
• "cocaine seizures by customs have risen this year"
Origin:
late Middle English: originally in the singular, denoting a customary due paid to a ruler, later duty levied on goods on their way to market.
custom
noun
• a traditional and widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is specific to a particular society, place, or time.
• "the old English custom of dancing round the maypole"
Similar:
tradition,
practice,
usage,
observance,
way,
convention,
procedure,
ceremony,
ritual,
ordinance,
form,
formality,
fashion,
mode,
manner,
shibboleth,
sacred cow,
unwritten rule,
mores,
way of doing things,
consuetude,
praxis,
• regular dealings with a shop or business by customers.
• "if you keep me waiting, I will take my custom elsewhere"
Origin:
Middle English: from Old French coustume, based on Latin consuetudo, from consuetus, past participle of consuescere ‘accustom’, from con- (expressing intensive force) + suescere ‘become accustomed’.
