Appeal to Tradition
Etymology
A descriptive English name for the Latin "argumentum ad antiquitatem" (argument to antiquity). "Tradition" comes from Latin "tradere" (to hand over, hand down), which fittingly also gave us "traitor" — something handed over.
noun phrase · /uh-PEEL too truh-DISH-un/
The fallacy of treating something as right or good simply because it is long-established.
What it names
A specific bad argument — "we’ve always done it this way" offered as if age alone were proof.
Example
Defending the rule only by saying it’s a century old is an appeal to tradition, not a reason.
Related idea
The appeal to tradition leans on the past; its mirror image, the appeal to novelty, assumes the newest option must be the best.