ˈtälˌmu̇d, ˈtalməd noun
( -s )
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Late Hebrew talmūdh, literally, instruction, from Hebrew lāmadh to learn
: the authoritative body of Jewish law and tradition developed on the basis of the scriptural law after the closing of the Pentateuchal text about 400 B.C., incorporated in the Hebrew Mishnah and the Aramaic Gemara, and represented in one edition completed in Palestine in the 4th century A.D. and another longer and more authoritative edition completed in Babylon in the 5th century A.D. — see amora , sabora ; compare haggada , halakah