custom
Loading your saved state.
custom
A usual and accepted way of behaving, a custom, or a convention within a particular group, culture, or company. The word is often used in the plural.
Es gehört zu den Gepflogenheiten des Hauses, dass neue Mitarbeiter allen vorgestellt werden.
It is one of the customs of the company that new employees are introduced to everyone.
The word derives from the verb 'pflegen' (to maintain/cultivate), in its older meaning of 'to do something habitually'. A 'Gepflogenheit' (custom) is therefore something one is in the habit of doing.
Er pflegt nach dem Abendessen einen Spaziergang zu machen.
He is in the habit of taking a walk after dinner.
'Gepflogenheit' (custom) is a formal word. It is used mainly in business, official, or cultural contexts to describe customs and established ways of behaving.
Bitte machen Sie sich mit den geschäftlichen Gepflogenheiten unserer Partner vertraut.
Please familiarize yourself with the business customs of our partners.
This noun is very often used in the plural ('die Gepflogenheiten', customs), because it is often about a collection of customs and conventions. A typical sentence structure is 'Es gehört zu den Gepflogenheiten, dass ...' (It is one of the customs that ...).
Es gehört zu den lokalen Gepflogenheiten, den Gastgebern ein kleines Geschenk mitzubringen.
It is one of the local customs to bring the hosts a small gift.
practice / office
'die Praxis' and 'die Gepflogenheit' can both have to do with how something is actually done. 'die Praxis' more often means application or experience: not just theory, but real action. For example, you say that something is different in practice than it is in the plan. 'die Gepflogenheit' means a usual way of behaving in a group, company, or culture. So it describes more of an accepted custom or convention. The words can be confused because both have to do with real behavior. If you are talking about application or practice, 'Praxis' fits. If you are talking about rules of interaction or fixed customs, 'Gepflogenheit' fits.
In dieser Firma ist es eine Gepflogenheit, neue Kollegen am ersten Tag gemeinsam zu begrüßen.
In this company, it is customary to welcome new colleagues together on their first day.
In der Praxis ist die Aufgabe schwerer, als sie im Buch aussieht.
In practice, the task is harder than it looks in the book.