tradition

tradition
    n 1: an inherited pattern of thought or action
    2: a specific practice of long standing [syn: {custom},
       {tradition}]
    

Tradition \Tra*di"tion\, n. [OE. tradicioun, L. traditio, from
   tradere to give up, transmit. See {Treason}, {Traitor}.]
   1. The act of delivering into the hands of another; delivery.
      "A deed takes effect only from the tradition or delivery."
      --Blackstone.
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   2. The unwritten or oral delivery of information, opinions,
      doctrines, practices, rites, and customs, from father to
      son, or from ancestors to posterity; the transmission of
      any knowledge, opinions, or practice, from forefathers to
      descendants by oral communication, without written
      memorials.
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   3. Hence, that which is transmitted orally from father to
      son, or from ancestors to posterity; knowledge or belief
      transmitted without the aid of written memorials; custom
      or practice long observed.
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            Will you mock at an ancient tradition begun upon an
            honorable respect?                    --Shak.
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            Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful
            village of Grand-Pr['e].              --Longfellow.
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   4. (Theol.)
      (a) An unwritten code of law represented to have been
          given by God to Moses on Sinai.
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                Making the word of God of none effect through
                your tradition, which ye have delivered. --Mark
                                                  vii. 13.
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      (b) That body of doctrine and discipline, or any article
          thereof, supposed to have been put forth by Christ or
          his apostles, and not committed to writing.
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                Stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye
                have been taught, whether by word or our
                epistle.                          --2 Thess. ii.
                                                  15.
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   {Tradition Sunday} (Eccl.), Palm Sunday; -- so called because
      the creed was then taught to candidates for baptism at
      Easter.
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Tradition \Tra*di"tion\, v. t.
   To transmit by way of tradition; to hand down. [Obs.]
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         The following story is . . . traditioned with very much
         credit amongst our English Catholics.    --Fuller.
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Tradition
any kind of teaching, written or spoken, handed down from
generation to generation. In Mark 7:3, 9, 13, Col. 2:8, this
word refers to the arbitrary interpretations of the Jews. In 2
Thess. 2:15; 3:6, it is used in a good sense. Peter (1 Pet.
1:18) uses this word with reference to the degenerate Judaism of
the "strangers scattered" whom he addresses (comp. Acts 15:10;
Matt. 15:2-6; Gal. 1:14).
    

TRADITION, contracts, civil law. The act by which a thing is delivered by 
one or more persons to one or more others. 
     2. In sales it is the delivery of possession by the proprietor with an 
intention to transfer the property to the receiver. Two things are therefore 
requisite in order to transmit property in this way: 1. The intention or 
consent of the former owner to transfer it; and, 2. The actual delivery in 
pursuance of that intention. 
     3. Tradition is either real or symbolical. The first is where the ipsa 
corpora of movables are put into the hands of the receiver. Symbolical 
tradition is used where the thing is incapable of real delivery, as, in 
immovable subjects, such as lands and houses; or such as consist in jure 
(things incorporeal) as things of fishing and the like. The property of 
certain movables, though they are capable of real delivery, may be 
transferred by symbol. Thus, if the subject be under look and key, the 
delivery of the key is considered as a legal tradition of all that is 
contained in the repository. Cujas, Observations, liv. 11, ch. 10; Inst. 
lib. 2, t. 1, Sec. 40; Dig. lib. 41, t. 1, 1. 9; Ersk. Princ. Laws of Scotl. 
bk. 2, t. 1, s. 10, 11; Civil Code Lo. art. 2452, et seq. 
     4. In the common law the term used in the place of tradition is 
delivery. (q.v.) 
    

75 Moby Thesaurus words for "tradition":
      Mishnah, Spiritus Mundi, Sunna, Talmud, ancient wisdom,
      archetypal myth, archetypal pattern, belief, birthright, bon ton,
      charm, common law, conformity, consuetude, convention, credo,
      creed, culture, custom, doctrine, established way, ethic,
      etiquette, faith, fashion, folk motif, folklore, folktale, folkway,
      form, habit, heritage, immemorial usage, institution, legend, lore,
      manner, manners, mores, myth, mythology, mythos, observance,
      orthodoxy, popular belief, practice, praxis, prescription,
      proper thing, racial memory, religion, religious belief,
      religious faith, rite, ritual, social convention, spell,
      standard behavior, standard usage, standing custom, superstition,
      superstitiousness, system of beliefs, teaching, theology,
      time-honored practice, traditionalism, traditionality,
      unwritten law, usage, use, way, what is done, wont, wonting