client (English)

Where does "client" come from?

English client came into Middle English through Anglo-Norman clyent and Old French client, from Latin cliēns. In Latin, the word referred to a dependent or follower in Roman society, and later it broadened in English to mean someone who receives services, especially from a professional or a business. The same word now also appears in computing for a program that depends on a server’s services.

Full etymology tree

• client (English), 'A customer, a buyer or receiver of goods or services.'
  • inherited from client (Middle English)
    • inherited from clyent (Anglo-Norman)
      • inherited from client (Old French)
        • inherited from cliēns (Latin), 'customer'
          • derived from cluēns (Latin)
            • deverbal from cluēre (Latin), 'inflection of cluō:'
              • inherited from *kluēō (Proto-Italic), 'to be known'
                • derived from *kluējō (Proto-Italic)
                • inherited from *ḱlew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to hear'
                  • derived from *ḱl̥w-éh₁-ti (Proto-Indo-European)
          • borrowed from clīnō (Latin), 'to bend, incline'
            • inherited from *kleināō (Proto-Italic)
              • inherited from *ḱley- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to shelter, cover'
                • derived from *ḱel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover'

Direct ancestors

• ḱlew- (Proto-Indo-European)
• cliens (Latin)

Updated March 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris