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tradition adjectives/NOUN + tradition a long tradition • This country has a long tradition of accepting political refugees. a time-honoured/long-standing tradition (= a long tradition ) • In time-honoured tradition, they have a drink in every pub along the high street. a strong tradition • There is a strong tradition of sport at the school. an old/ancient tradition • In rural Wales, the old traditions persisted. a family tradition • According to family tradition, he must sing at his own wedding. a cultural/religious tradition • cultural traditions that date back many generations a local tradition • The villagers are all keen to preserve local traditions. American/British/Western etc tradition • The festival is a part of the Scottish tradition which is worth preserving. verbs follow a tradition (= do what has been done before ) • He followed the family tradition and became a doctor. maintain/carry on/continue/uphold a tradition (= make a tradition continue in the same way or at the same standard as before ) • We maintain a tradition of cider making dating from Norman times. break with tradition (= not follow a tradition ) • Why not break with tradition and study at Leeds, say, or London, instead of Oxford? establish a tradition • They are continuing a tradition established by the firm’s Victorian founder. be steeped in tradition (= have many traditions ) • It is an area of the country steeped in tradition.
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noun ADJ. age-old, ancient, archaic, centuries-old, deep-rooted, enduring, living, long/long-established, old, time-honoured, unbroken, well-established | distinguished, fine, great, honourable | cherished, hallowed | dominant, powerful, strong | ancestral, family | local, national, native | folk, popular | oral | Catholic, Christian, pagan, etc. | Eastern, English, European, etc. | 19th-century, classical, medieval, modernist, etc. | academic, artistic, cultural, ideological, literary, military, musical, philosophical, political, religious, sociological, sporting, teaching, theatrical This region has a great sporting tradition. | democratic, liberal, radical, revolutionary VERB + TRADITION have | cherish, continue, follow (in), keep alive, maintain, preserve, uphold Following in the Hitchcock tradition, he always appears in the films he directs. Villagers get together every year to keep this age-old tradition alive. | hand down an oral tradition handed down from generation to generation | break (with), go against He broke with the family tradition and did not go down the mines. | establish, start | revive TRADITION + VERB continue, die hard, survive Old habits and traditions die hard. PREP. according to (a/the) ~ According to tradition, a tree grew on the spot where the king was killed. | by ~ By tradition, nobody interrupts an MP's maiden speech. | in (a/the) ~ In time-honoured tradition, a bottle of champagne was smashed on the ship. He's a politician in the tradition of (= similar in style to) Kennedy. PHRASES a departure from tradition In a departure from tradition, the bride wore a red dress. | in the best traditions of sth The building was constructed in the best traditions of medieval church architecture. | respect for tradition I acquired lasting respect for tradition and veneration for the past.