Etymologically
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tradition

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /trəˈdɪʃ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tradicioun, borrowed from Old French tradicion (“handing over”),[2][3] and directly from Latin trāditiō (“a handing down, surrender”),[2][3] a noun of action from trādere “to hand over, deliver”,[2][3] formed from trāns- “over” and dare “to give”.[2][3] It is thus a doublet of treason,[2][3] and related to traitor.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A statement, belief or practice handed down from generation to generation, especially in theology: about 1380 in the OED, about 1382 in the Wycliffe Bible in Barnhart.[5][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense, the handing over or surrender of something, is from 1482 and 1540 and is now obsolete or historical.[5][6] The act of handing down beliefs is from 1591,[5] and the meaning “a long-established custom” is from the 1590s.[2] By 1718 it was used of the hadiths of Islam.[2] Traditional is from 1594, in Shakespeare.[3] The short trad, usually of jazz, is from the 1950s.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – beliefs handed down.[5]
  • 1482 – surrender, betrayal.[5]
  • 1590s – a long-established custom.[2]
  • 1594 – traditional.[3]
  • 1718 – the hadiths of Islam.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A custom or belief that has existed for a long time and is passed from one generation to the next.
  2. The passing down of customs and beliefs.
  3. A body of art, literature or thought that follows earlier models: the Romantic tradition.

Word family

  • traditional
  • traditionally
  • traditionless
  • antitradition
  • countertradition
  • protradition
  • traditionist
  • traditionalism

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press