In sales it is the delivery of possession by the proprietor with an intention to transfer the property to the receiver. The actual delivery in pursuance of that intention.
Tradition is either real or symbolical.
The first is where the ipsa corpora of movables are put into the hands of the receiver. The property of certain movables, though they are capable of real delivery, may be transferred by symbol. Thus, if the subject be under look and key, the delivery of the key is considered as a legal tradition of all that is contained in the repository. In the common law the term used in the place of tradition is delivery.