tradition

n.

1. The passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication.
2. 1. A mode of thought or behavior followed by a people continuously from generation to generation; a custom or usage.
   2. A set of such customs and usages viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the present: followed family tradition in dress and manners. See synonyms at heritage.
3. A body of unwritten religious precepts.
4. A time-honored practice or set of such practices.
5. Law. Transfer of property to another.

[Middle English tradicion, from Old French, from Latin trāditiō, trāditiōn-, from trāditus, past participle of trādere, to hand over, deliver, entrust : trā-, trāns-, trans- + dare, to give.]

noun

1. Something immaterial, as a style or philosophy, that is passed from one generation to another: heritage, inheritance, legacy. See affect/ineffectiveness.
2. A body of traditional beliefs and notions accumulated about a particular subject: folklore, legend, lore, myth, mythology, mythos. See knowledge/ignorance.

tradition, any body of works, styles, conventions, or beliefs which are represented as having been ‘handed down’ from the past to the present. In practice, this means a specific selection of works arranged according to a certain interpretation of the past, usually made in order to lend authority to present critical arguments. Thus T. S. Eliot re‐invented the tradition of English poetry by aligning it with the work of John Donne rather than John Milton; while F. R. Leavis in The Great Tradition (1948) excluded several major novelists from ‘the’ tradition of English fiction.

(Heb. Masoret). The complex of legal norms and folkways handed down orally from one generation to another, from teacher to disciple. The sages gave credibility to these oral traditions, which were not based on the Bible but were accorded similar validity, anchoring them in the halakhic code (see Oral Law). Many of them are recorded in tractate Eduyyot of the Mishnah. The rabbis said, "Tradition is a fence around the Torah" (Avot 3:13); that is to say, the oral tradition safeguards the observance of biblical law. To enhance the credibility of these traditions, many were imputed to have a Mosaic origin (Halakhah Le-Mosheh Mi-Sinai). However, talmudic commentators agree that in some instances this is not to be taken literally, the expression merely indicating that the tradition is of long standing and universally accepted.

In a narrower sense, the term Masoret was employed by the sages to designate a deficient spelling in the Scriptural text, as opposed to Mikra, the traditional manner in which the script was read (e.g., s-k-t [Lev. 23:42] can be read in the singular sukkat, but was read in the plural, sukkot; Sanh. 4a). Another term employed by the sages for the oral tradition is Kabbalah. In time, tradition came to encompass non-halakhic customs (see Custom) which were considered as binding as rabbinic injunctions, as in the adage, "Israel's custom is [tantamount to] Torah," asserted by medieval authorities. Latter-day authorities, especially Ḥasidic, impute sanctity to traditions in dress, folkways at religious ceremonies such as circumcisions and weddings, special dishes for the various festivals, and traditional chants at synagogue services.

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Traditionalists believe that inherited conventions, social forms, modes of government or social institutions, have evolved over time as effective adaptations to the needs of people, and therefore have a default authority. Enthusiasm for reform for its own sake, or for ‘rational’ schemes thought up by managers and theorists, is therefore entirely misplaced. Major exponents of this theme include Burke and Hayek.

[Ge]

In American archaeology this term refers to styles of artefact, assemblages of tools or other items of material culture, architectural styles, economic practices, or artistic styles that last longer than a phase or the duration of a horizon. The idea of a tradition implies a degree of cultural continuity even if there are local or regional patterns in the archaeological material. The term was defined in its modern usage by G. Willey and P. Phillips in 1955, although the word had been widely used in a variety of ways before that time, and continues to be variously and less specifically applied. The Arctic Small Tool Tradition is a good example of the way the term applies: persistent technological or cultural patterns identified by characteristic artefact forms. These persistent forms outlast a single phase and can occur over a wide area.

IN BRIEF: A specific practice or thought pattern of long standing.

All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness ... the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives. — Dalai Lama

Quotes:

"In America nothing dies easier than tradition." - Russell (Wayne) Baker

"The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man's ability to adapt to changing circumstances." - Stephen Bayley

"As soon as tradition has come to be recognized as tradition, it is dead." - Allan Bloom

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes -- our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking around." - Gilbert K. Chesterton

"The dead govern the living." - Auguste Comte

"Tradition! We scarcely know the word anymore. We are afraid to be either proud of our ancestors or ashamed of them. We scorn nobility in name and in fact. We cling to a bourgeois mediocrity which would make it appear we are all Americans, made in the image and likeness of George Washington." - Dorothy Day

See more famous quotes about Tradition

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - tradition, overlevering, sagn

idioms:

• in the tradition of    ifølge traditionen for

Nederlands (Dutch)
traditie, overlevering

Français (French)
n. - tradition

idioms:

• in the tradition of    dans la tradition de

Deutsch (German)
n. - Tradition, Überlieferung, (jur.) Auslieferung

idioms:

• in the tradition of    in vielem an ... erinnernd, ... folgend

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - παράδοση (από γενιά σε γενιά), παραδοσιακό έθιμο

idioms:

• in the tradition of    ακολουθώντας την παράδοση του..

Italiano (Italian)
tradizione, leggenda

idioms:

• in the tradition of    nella tradizione di

Português (Portuguese)
n. - tradição (f)

idioms:

• in the tradition of    na tradição de

Русский (Russian)
традиция, старый обычай, предание, неписаный закон

idioms:

• in the tradition of    по традиции

Español (Spanish)
n. - costumbre, tradición

idioms:

• in the tradition of    siguiendo la tradición de

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tradition

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
传统, 惯例

idioms:

• in the tradition of    按照...的传统

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 傳統, 慣例

idioms:

• in the tradition of    按照...的傳統

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 전설, 전통, 성전

idioms:

• in the tradition of    ~의 전통으로

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 伝統, 伝説

idioms:

• in the tradition of    伝統で

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تقليد, عرف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מסורת, מסורה, תורה שבע"פ (יהדות), ההטפה בע"פ של ישו והשליחים, דבריו ומעשיו של הנביא מוחמד שאינם מובאים בקוראן (חדית')‬

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