The practice, habit, or established practice of following customs; customary behavior or tradition.
From Old French 'custumance,' derived from 'custom' with the suffix '-ance' (a state or condition). This archaic word was used in Middle English and Old French legal documents to describe established practices.
Medieval law courts used 'customance' to argue that a practice was legal simply because it had been done that way forever—it's the origin of 'common law,' where tradition itself becomes the rule, a powerful idea that still shapes English legal systems!
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