traditionnoun [ C or U ]
uk/trəˈdɪʃ.ən/us/trəˈdɪʃ.ən/B2 a belief, principle, or way of acting that people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time, or all of these beliefs, etc. in a particular society or group:
Fireworks have long been an American tradition on the Fourth of July.
Switzerland has a long tradition of neutrality.
[ + that ] There's a tradition in our office that when it's somebody's birthday, they bring in a cake for all of us to share.
We decided to break with tradition (= not behave as usual) this year and go away for Christmas.
According to tradition, a headless ghost walks through the corridors of the house at night.
More examples
- This college has a long tradition of athletic excellence.
- In keeping with tradition, they always have turkey on Christmas Day.
- The old people in the village still observe the local traditions.
- This tradition dates back to medieval times.
- Daphne is carrying on the family tradition by becoming a lawyer.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Custom, tradition & conformity
- apple pie
- as American as apple pie idiom 1
- backward-looking
- backwards
- be (like) sheep idiom
- blend into the scenery idiom
- cue
- fashion
- folk
- folk memory
- folklore
- follow the crowd idiom
- non-traditional
- nonconformist
- norm
- orthodoxy
- patrimony
- reactionary
- scenery
- zeitgeist
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Idiom(s)
in the tradition of sb/sth