What does Traditional mean?

Definitions for Traditional
tra·di·tion·al

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Traditional.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. traditionaladjective

    consisting of or derived from tradition

    "traditional history"; "traditional morality"

  2. traditionaladjective

    pertaining to time-honored orthodox doctrines

    "the simple security of traditional assumptions has vanished"

Wiktionary

  1. traditionaladjective

    Of or pertaining to tradition; derived from tradition; communicated from ancestors to descendants by word only; transmitted from age to age without writing; as, traditional opinions; traditional customs; traditional expositions of the Scriptures.

  2. traditionaladjective

    Observant of tradition; attached to old customs; old-fashioned.

  3. traditionaladjective

    In lieu of the name of the composer of a piece of music, whose real name is lost in the mists of time.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Traditionaladjective

    Etymology: from tradition.

    Whence may we have the infallible traditional sense of scripture, if not from the heads of their church? John Tillotson.

    If there be any difference in natural parts, it should seem the advantage lies on the side of children born from wealthy parents, the same traditional sloth and luxury which render their body weak, perhaps refining their spirits. Jonathan Swift.

    God forbid
    We should infringe the holy privilege
    Of sanctuary!
    ———— You are too senseless obstinate, my lord;
    Too ceremonious and traditional. William Shakespeare, Rich. II.

Wikipedia

  1. traditional

    A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (like lawyers' wigs or military officers' spurs), but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings. Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years—the word tradition itself derives from the Latin tradere literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have an ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural, over short periods of time. Various academic disciplines also use the word in a variety of ways. The phrase "according to tradition", or "by tradition", usually means that whatever information follows is known only by oral tradition, but is not supported (and perhaps may be refuted) by physical documentation, by a physical artifact, or other quality evidence. Tradition is used to indicate the quality of a piece of information being discussed. For example, "According to tradition, Homer was born on Chios, but many other locales have historically claimed him as theirs." This tradition may never be proven or disproven. In another example, "King Arthur, by tradition a true British king, has inspired many well loved stories." Whether they are documented fact or not does not decrease their value as cultural history and literature.Traditions are a subject of study in several academic fields, especially in social sciences such as folklore studies, anthropology, archaeology, and biology. The concept of tradition, as the notion of holding on to a previous time, is also found in political and philosophical discourse. For example, it is the basis of the political concept of traditionalism, and also strands of many world religions including traditional Catholicism. In artistic contexts, tradition is used to decide the correct display of an art form. For example, in the performance of traditional genres (such as traditional dance), adherence to guidelines dictating how an art form should be composed are given greater importance than the performer's own preferences. A number of factors can exacerbate the loss of tradition, including industrialization, globalization, and the assimilation or marginalization of specific cultural groups. In response to this, tradition-preservation attempts have now been started in many countries around the world, focusing on aspects such as traditional languages. Tradition is usually contrasted with the goal of modernity and should be differentiated from customs, conventions, laws, norms, routines, rules and similar concepts.

ChatGPT

  1. traditional

    Traditional typically refers to customs, beliefs, practices, or values that have been passed down from previous generations and have been followed and upheld for a significant period of time. It often represents adherence to established norms and traditions that are deeply rooted in a particular culture or society.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Traditionaladjective

    of or pertaining to tradition; derived from tradition; communicated from ancestors to descendants by word only; transmitted from age to age without writing; as, traditional opinions; traditional customs; traditional expositions of the Scriptures

  2. Traditionaladjective

    observant of tradition; attached to old customs; old-fashioned

Suggested Resources

  1. traditional

    Song lyrics by traditional -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by traditional on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Traditional' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #976

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Traditional' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2612

  3. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Traditional' in Adjectives Frequency: #121

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce Traditional?

How to say Traditional in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Traditional in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Traditional in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of Traditional in a Sentence

  1. Jeff Abramson:

    The Biden administration will face extreme budget pressures to tackle issues from the pandemic, to green energy investments, to domestic and social justice priorities that would impact on traditional defense spending, within the first days of The Biden administration, it will also be clear if he will take a new approach on arms sales issues.

  2. Democratic National Committee.With Bullock:

    Iowa is important to everyone's campaign, iowa has always played that traditional starting out role, but it's certainly significant to mine.

  3. Stanley Lau:

    I'm not saying the government wants to get rid of traditional industries, but with the actions they are taking and the policies they are launching, they'll eventually kill traditional industries.

  4. Jay Johnson:

    For traditional societies, place names were typically associated with histories and stories and mnemonic devices to aid those societies to find knowledge about anything, such as our environment or who we are as a society.

  5. Eric Garcetti:

    Los Angeles is a city of belonging that takes responsibility for the mistakes we’ve made in the past, our indigenous brothers and sisters deserve justice and today we take a step toward delivering both greater cultural sensitivity and spaces for Angelenos to gather and perform their traditional ceremonies.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

Traditional#1#1721#10000

Translations for Traditional

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"Traditional." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 11 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Traditional>.

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    brought into agreement or cooperation on the side of a faction, party, or cause
    A witless
    B whirring
    C abrupt
    D aligned

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