What does custom mean?
Word: Custom
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Custom means a way of doing things that people in a family, community or country have followed for a long time. Customs is also the place at an airport where officers check what you bring into a country.
Synonyms: practice, habit
How do you spell custom?
Syllables: cus - tom
Tricky part: The second vowel is o, even though it sounds weak and many children write custum.
Watch out for: custum, custam
Memory tip: Custom ends with tom. Picture a boy called Tom who never forgets the family custom of Sunday lunch at his grandparents' house.
Custom in a sentence
Example 1: In many Japanese homes it is the custom to take off your shoes before going in.
Example 2: Our bags were checked at customs when we landed in Sydney.
Example 3: Shaking hands when you meet someone is a custom that goes back hundreds of years.
Fun Fact
Custom and costume come from the same Latin word, consuetudo, meaning habit. Costume first meant the clothes that were usual in a place or time.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
In our family it is a cusstom to visit our grandparents on the first day of the new year.
a) family
b) visit
c) cusstom
d) grandparents
Show answer
c) cusstom. Custom has only one s.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tumsoc
a) csutom
b) cusotm
c) cutsom
d) custom
Show answer
d) custom. It ends with the name Tom.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
custom
a) accident
b) rumour
c) holiday
d) tradition
Show answer
d) tradition. A tradition is something people have done the same way for many years.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) kitchen
b) garden
c) family
d) kustom
Show answer
d) kustom. Custom starts with a c that makes a k sound, as in cup.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. When you go through customs at an airport, officers ____.
a) sell you a new ticket
b) check the goods you carry
c) serve you a hot meal
d) fly the plane for you
Show answer
b) check the goods you carry
2. A custom-made shirt is one that is ____.
a) handed down from a cousin
b) bought cheaply at a market
c) made to order for one buyer
d) worn only at weddings
Show answer
c) made to order for one buyer
