client

Client comes from Middle English client, borrowed through Anglo-Norman clyent and Old French client, from Latin cliēns. Cliēns is akin to the Latin verb clinare, meaning "to lean."

The facts here don't trace a change in meaning, just the word's path from Latin through French and Anglo-Norman into Middle English.

Client shares a root with clinare, the Latin verb for "to lean" — the same idea of leaning that sits behind its Latin ancestor cliēns.