Radat

Radat is a historical term found in Turkish-language sources, referring to customary practices, traditional norms, or social habits that guide daily life. In late Ottoman and early modern Turkish texts, radat is often discussed alongside adet (habit) and örf (custom) to describe what is considered normal or acceptable behavior within a community. The word is largely archaic in contemporary standard Turkish, and its everyday usage has diminished in favor of adet or örf.

Etymologically, radat is generally treated as a loan or derivative in the Turkic and Persianate linguistic sphere, with some dictionaries tracing it back to Arabic or Persian roots related to habit or custom. Because of its literary and historical associations, precise lineage can vary among scholars, and some treat radat as a regional or antique term rather than a universally current one.

In practice, radat can denote long-established cultural practices, manners, or conventions that are transmitted across generations. In legal, anthropological, and sociological writings, it has been used to discuss customary norms within a community, sometimes in contrast to codified law. Its connotation tends to emphasize the communal and inherited nature of practice rather than individual choice.

Today, radat appears mainly in historical or scholarly contexts. Modern Turkish more commonly uses adet and örf to express similar ideas, while radat remains a point of reference for discussions of traditional social order in historical works. See also: adat, örf, tradition, customary law.