talmud

noun

1. the collection of Jewish law and tradition consisting of the Mishnah and the Gemara and being either the edition produced in Palestine a.d. c400 or the larger, more important one produced in Babylonia a.d. c500.
2. the Gemara.

noun Judaism

1. the primary source of Jewish religious law, consisting of the Mishnah and the Gemara
2. either of two recensions of this compilation, the Palestinian Talmud of about 375 ad, or the longer and more important Babylonian Talmud of about 500 ad

n.body of Jewish traditional ceremonial and civil law, 1530s, from late Hebrew talmud “instruction” (c.130 C.E.), from lama-d “to teach.” Related: Talmudic. Collections of commentaries on biblical texts that form, with the Torah, the foundation for the religious laws of Judaism.