noun
- the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice: a story that has come down to us by popular tradition.
- something that is handed down: the traditions of the Eskimos.
- a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting: The rebellious students wanted to break with tradition.
- a continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices.
- a customary or characteristic method or manner: The winner took a victory lap in the usual track tradition.
- Theology.
- (among Jews) body of laws and doctrines, or any one of them, held to have been received from Moses and originally handed down orally from generation to generation.
- (among Christians) a body of teachings, or any one of them, held to have been delivered by Christ and His apostles but not originally committed to writing.
- (among Muslims) a hadith.
- Law. an act of handing over something to another, especially in a formal legal manner; delivery; transfer.
noun
- the handing down from generation to generation of the same customs, beliefs, etc, esp by word of mouth
- the body of customs, thought, practices, etc, belonging to a particular country, people, family, or institution over a relatively long period
- a specific custom or practice of long standing
- Christianity a doctrine or body of doctrines regarded as having been established by Christ or the apostles though not contained in Scripture
- (often capital) Judaism a body of laws regarded as having been handed down from Moses orally and only committed to writing in the 2nd century ad
- the beliefs and customs of Islam supplementing the Koran, esp as embodied in the Sunna
- law, mainly Roman law Scots law the act of formally transferring ownership of movable property; delivery
late 14c., from Old French tradicion (late 13c.), from Latin traditionem (nominative traditio) “delivery, surrender, a handing down,” from traditus, past participle of tradere “deliver, hand over,” from trans- “over” (see trans-) + dare “to give” (see date (n.1)). The word is a doublet of treason (q.v.). The notion in the modern sense of the word is of things “handed down” from generation to generation.