tradition

American  

[truh-dish-uhn] / trəˈdɪʃ ən /

noun

• traditions
  plural

1. 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.

2. something that is handed down.

   the traditions of the American South.

   Synonyms:

   usage, convention, habit, practice, custom

3. a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting.

   The rebellious students wanted to break with tradition.

4. a continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices.

5. a customary or characteristic method or manner.

   The winner took a victory lap in the usual track tradition.

6. Theology.

   1. (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.

   2. (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.

   3. (among Muslims) a hadith.

7. Law. an act of handing over something to another, especially in a formal legal manner; delivery; transfer.

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tradition British  

/ trəˈdɪʃən /

noun

1. the handing down from generation to generation of the same customs, beliefs, etc, esp by word of mouth

2. the body of customs, thought, practices, etc, belonging to a particular country, people, family, or institution over a relatively long period

3. a specific custom or practice of long standing

4. Christianity a doctrine or body of doctrines regarded as having been established by Christ or the apostles though not contained in Scripture

5. (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

6. the beliefs and customs of Islam supplementing the Koran, esp as embodied in the Sunna

7. law Roman law Scots law the act of formally transferring ownership of movable property; delivery

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• countertradition
  noun
• nontradition
  noun
• traditionist
  noun
• antitradition
  adjective
• protradition
  adjective
• traditionless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• traditions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tradition

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English tradicion, from Old French, from Latin trāditiōn- (stem of trāditiō ) “a handing over or down, transfer,” equivalent to trādit(us), past participle of trādere “to give over, impart, surrender, betray” ( trā-, variant of trāns- trans- + -ditus, combining form of datus “given”; see date ¹) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

Traditions are longstanding customs and practices. It might be a family tradition to open Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, started because your parents were too impatient to wait. The noun tradition has Latin roots in the word tradere, which means hand over or hand down. So think of a tradition as something that is handed down from one generation to another. Fireworks on the Fourth of July are a national tradition, and playing your school's fight song at the start of the football game is probably a longstanding tradition designed to get the fans excited for the game.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tradition traditions

For the first time, I felt as though I had discovered the tradition I wanted to join.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

Meanwhile, athletes and Games staff continued the long standing tradition of collecting team pin badges, resulting in some impressive bling lanyards.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

The video tour finished with a Guthrie family tradition, a meal together at downtown Tucson’s century-old El Charro Café.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Iraqis greeted them with gifts of drinks and food, continuing the tradition of offering refreshments to pilgrims.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

A long tradition of using scales in particular ways has trained listeners to expect certain things from a piece of music.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

After all, the two traditions share common qualities: a focus on improvisation; a practice of making complex and odd-metered rhythms sound easeful and organic; and the patience to let themes and forms unfold gradually.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

That demand for endearing imperfection is also helping to sustain one of the country's oldest papermaking traditions.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

Some communities have strong cultural traditions dictating who should fill the caretaker role — in many cases, that’s the eldest daughter.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

“As more people came, food influence evolved and mixed; rural and urban food traditions, tastes and trends merged into the modern era.”

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

“Like our own ancestors, that is true. How they suffered, and yet they held on to so many African traditions and music. Like our Celia.”

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

Related Words

• belief
• culture
• custom
• ethic
• folklore
• form
• habit
• heritage
• idea
• institution
• law
• legend
• lore
• myth
• mythology
• orthodoxy
• practice
• ritual
• wisdom