Traditionally

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /tɹəˈdɪʃəˌnəli/

Definitions

1. In a way that conforms to customary practices and beliefs over time
2. In a manner that follows practices passed down through generations
3. Acting according to habits and norms that have been maintained historically

Etymology: "Traditionally" is an adverb built from "traditional" plus the suffix "-ly", and the adjective traces back through Old French to Latin "trādere", "to hand over" or "to deliver". The Latin noun "trāditiō" meant a handing over, and it passed through Old French "tradicion" and Middle English "tradiciou" before becoming "tradition" in English. The idea underneath is of something passed from hand to hand across generations, which is why a custom that survives by being handed down becomes a tradition. "Traditional" arrived by adding the suffix "-al" to that noun, drawing on Latin "-ālis", which marks a thing as belonging to or relating to something. The final "-ly" is an Old English suffix, "-līċe", that turns an adjective into an adverb describing the manner of an action. So "traditionally" literally means "in a manner relating to handing down", which is exactly the sense of acting according to long-established custom.

Synonyms: conventionally, historically

Antonyms: innovatively, untraditionally