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custody

noun

Simple meaning

The legal right to take care of something or somebody.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kuhstuhdee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkʌstədi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The legal right to take care of something or somebody, especially children.

  2. The state of being imprisoned or detained, usually pending a trial.

  3. Temporary possession or care of somebody else's property.

  4. A state of being confined (usually for a short time)

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The legal right to take care of something or somebody, especially children.

Used this way, custody is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Law/legal
  • Government/politics
  • Academic writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Legal / temporary

child custodylegal custody

Holding

police custody

Other combinations

joint custodyprotective custodycustody battlesafe custodyphysical custody

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • custody battlenounCompound term

    Litigation to settle custody of the children of a divorced couple.

  • custody casenounCompound term

    A legal action to determine custody (usually of children following a divorce).

  • taking into custodynounCompound term

    The act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal).

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.