Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CUST'OM-ER, n.

1. One who frequents any place of sale for the sake of purchasing goods; one who purchases goods or wares.
2. One who frequents or visits any place for procuring what he wants. We say a mill has many customers. Hence a person who receives supplies is called a customer; the smith, the shoemaker and the tailor have their customers; and the coffee-house has its customers.
3. A toll-gatherer. [Obs.]