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client

 - 4 dictionary results

cli⋅ent

[klahy-uhnt]
–noun
1. a person or group that uses the professional advice or services of a lawyer, accountant, advertising agency, architect, etc.
2. a person who is receiving the benefits, services, etc., of a social welfare agency, a government bureau, etc.
3. a customer.
4. anyone under the patronage of another; a dependent.
5. Computers. a workstation on a network that gains access to central data files, programs, and peripheral devices through a server.
6. client state.
7. (in ancient Rome) a plebeian who lived under the patronage of a patrician.
–adjective
8. being a regular customer: a client company.
9. economically, and often militarily, dependent upon a more prosperous, more powerful nation.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L client-, s. of cliēns person seeking the protection or influence of someone powerful; perh. akin to clīnāre to bend (see incline )


cli⋅en⋅tal [klahy-en-tl, klahy-uhn-tl] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cli·ent   (klī'ənt)   
n.  
  1. The party for which professional services are rendered, as by an attorney.

  2. A customer or patron: clients of the hotel.

  3. A person using the services of a social services agency.

  4. One that depends on the protection of another.

  5. A client state.

  6. Computer Science A computer or program that can download files for manipulation, run applications, or request application-based services from a file server.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin cliēns, client-, dependent, follower; see klei- in Indo-European roots.]
cli'ent·age (-ən-tĭj) n., cli·en'tal (klī-ěn'tl, klī'ən-) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

client 
1393, from Anglo-Fr. clyent, from L. cliens (acc. clientem) "follower, retainer," perhaps a var. of prp. of cluere "listen, follow, obey" (see listen); or from clinare "to incline, bend," from suffixed form of PIE base *klei- "to lean" (see lean (v.)). The ground sense is of one who leans on another for protection. In ancient Rome, a plebian under protection of a patrician (in this relationship called patronus, see patron), originally in Eng. "a lawyer's customer," by c.1600 extended to any customer. Clientele is 1563, from Fr. clientèle, from L. clientela "relationship between dependent and patron."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

client programming
A computer system or process that requests a service of another computer system or process (a "server") using some kind of protocol and accepts the server's responses. A client is part of a client-server software architecture.
For example, a workstation requesting the contents of a file from a file server is a client of the file server.
(1997-10-27)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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