Etymograph

English

tradition

Tradition comes from Middle English tradicioun ‘a tradition, custom, or piece of wisdom’, from Old French tradicion ‘delivery’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘give’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-1‘give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dédeh₃ti1‘to be giving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*didō1‘to give’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdō2‘give’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrādō3‘give up’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrāditiō2‘a surrender’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tradicion2‘delivery’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tradicioun2‘a tradition’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1655tradition2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin do
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tradition
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin traditio
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […]: “The following story is […] traditioned with very much…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-Wiktionary, Latin do‘give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dédeh₃tiWiktionary, Latin do‘to be giving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*didōWiktionary, Latin do‘to give’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdōWiktionary, English tradition‘give’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrādōWiktionary, Latin traditio‘give up’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrāditiōWiktionary, English tradition‘a surrender’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tradicionWiktionary, English tradition‘delivery’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tradiciounWiktionary, English tradition‘a tradition’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1655traditionWiktionary, English tradition. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […]: “The following story is […] traditioned with very much…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘give’

date, add, delicious, addition, donate, vendor, donor, dow, donation, dowry, condone, dowager, addendum, rendition, additive, endow, dower, dati, sconce, perdition, 38 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dédeh₃ti ‘to be giving’

dose, anecdote, antidote, dacha, 18 more

through Proto-Italic *didō ‘to give’

dative, venta, 15 more

through Latin dō ‘give’

data, die, rent, surrender, vent, render, treason, rendezvous, 16 more

through Latin trādō ‘give up, hand over’

tray, 3 more

Today it means

noun A part of culture that is passed from person to person or generation to generation, possibly differing in detail from family to family, such as the way to celebrate holidays.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tradition”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin do, Latin traditio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- / tradition

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