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The state of being informal; want of regular, prescribed, or customary form; as, the informality of legal proceedings.

Deviating from that which is customary; novel; strange; unusual. [Obs.] If one chance to derive any word from the Latin which is insolent to their ears . . . they forth with make a jest at it. Petti If any should accuse me of being new or insolent. Milton.

Customary method of acting; habit. Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them. Acts xvii. 2. Air and manner are more expressive than words. Richardson.

A quantity of corn formerly given by the lord to his customary tenants, as an encouragement to, or reward for, labor and faithful service.

de of deerskin, or other soft leather, the sole and upper part being one piece. It is the customary shoe worn by the American Indians.

According to the mode, or customary manner; conformed to the fashion; fashionable; hence, conventional; as, a modish dress; a modish feast. Dryden. "Modish forms of address." Barrow. -- Mod"ish*ly, adv. -- Mod"ish*ness, n.

To vary or inflect in a natural, customary, or musical manner; as, the organs of speech modulate the voice in reading or speaking. Could any person so modulate her voice as to deceive so many Broome.

Customs; habits; esp., customs conformity to which is more or less obligatory; customary law.

A sort of ecclesiastical heriot, a customary gift claimed by, and due to, the minister of a parish on the death of a parishioner. It seems to have been originally a voluntary bequest or donation, intended to make amends for any failure in the payment of tithes of which the deceased had been guilty.

To wear the customary garb of a mourner. We mourn in black; why mourn we not in blood Shak. Grieve for an hour, perhaps, then mourn a year. Pope.

The customary abbreviation of Mister in writing and printing. See Master, 4.

Without pubescence; as, a naked leaf or stem; bare, or not covered by the customary parts, as a flower without a perianth, a stem without leaves, seeds without a pericarp, buds without bud scales.

Customary; ordinary; -- applied to the usual English spelling, in distinction from strictly phonetic methods. H Sweet. -- n.

An act, ceremony, or rite, as of worship or respect; especially, a customary act or service of attention; a form; a practice; a rite; a custom. At dances These young folk kept their observances. Chaucer. Use all the observance of civility. Shak. Some represent to themselves the whole of religion as consisting in a few…

h a person does, either voluntarily or by appointment, for, or with reference to, others; customary duty, or a duty that arises from the relations of man to man; as, kind offices, pious offices. I would I could do a good office between you. Shak.

Old-fashioned; wonted; customary; as of old; as, the good old times; hence, colloquially, gay; jolly.

The customary mode of procedure; established system, as in the conduct of debates or the transaction of business; usage; custom; fashion. Dantiel. And, pregnant with his grander thought, Brought the old order into doubt. Emerson.

Common; customary; usual. Shak. Method is not less reguisite in ordinary conversation that in writing. Addison.

Frequently repeated or customary action; habitual performance; a succession of acts of a similar kind; usage; habit; custom; as, the practice of rising early; the practice of making regular entries of accounts; the practice of daily exercise. A heart . . . exercised with covetous practices. 2 Pet. ii. 14.…

ojects of happiness devised by human reason. Rogers. He entered into the project with his customary ardor. Prescott.