tralatitious
Definition
Adjective: 1. Passed down through tradition; transmitted from one person or generation to another. This word describes something, especially an interpretation, doctrine, or custom, that is not original or derived directly from a primary source but has been conveyed and accepted through a chain of transmission.
Usage
The word tralatitious is a formal, academic, and somewhat rare term. It is primarily used in scholarly contexts, such as literary criticism, theology, historiography, or anthropology, to discuss ideas, interpretations, or practices whose authority comes from their historical transmission rather than from direct evidence or originality.
Examples
- The scholar argued that the common understanding of the ancient text was not based on a fresh reading but was merely a tralatitious interpretation inherited from earlier commentators.
- Many of the village's festivals are tralatitious, their original meanings obscured by centuries of oral retelling.
- His critique focused on distinguishing the author's original intent from the tralatitious glosses added by later editors.
Advanced Usage
- Tralatitious knowledge refers to knowledge that is accepted because it has been traditionally handed down, not because it has been empirically verified.
- In textual criticism, a tralatitious reading is a variant in a manuscript that was copied from an earlier source rather than arising independently.
Variants and Related Words
- Tradition (n): The transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation.
- Traditional (adj): Existing in or as part of a tradition; long-established.
- Tralatitiously (adv): In a tralatitious manner.
Synonyms
- Traditional
- Handed-down
- Conventional (in the sense of being based on convention rather than innovation)
- Received (as in "received wisdom")
Antonyms
- Original
- Innovative
- Empirical
- Primary (as in from a primary source)
Adjective
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having been passed along from generation to generation
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among Biblical critics a tralatitious interpretation is one received by expositor from expositor
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