c.1380, from O.Fr.
tradicion (1292), from L.
traditionem (nom.
traditio) "delivery, surrender, a handing down," from
traditus, pp. of
tradere "deliver, hand over," from
trans- "over" +
dare "to give" (see
date (1)). The word is a doublet of
treason (q.v.). The notion in the modern sense of the word is of things "handed down" from generation to generation.
Traditional is recorded from c.1600; in ref. to jazz, from 1950. Slang
trad, short for
trad(itional jazz) is recorded from 1956; its general use for "traditional" is recorded from 1963.