Tal"mud (?), n. [Chald. talm&umac;d instruction, doctrine, fr. lamad to learn, limmad to teach.]

The body of the Jewish civil and [canonical] law not comprised in the [Pentateuch].

The Talmud consists of two parts, the [Mishna], or text, and the [Gemara], or [commentary]. Sometimes, however, the name Talmud is restricted, especially by Jewish writers, to the Gemara. There are two Talmuds, the Palestinian, commonly, but incorrectly, called the Talmud of Jerusalem, and the Babylonian Talmud. They contain the same Mishna, but different Gemaras. The [Babylonian] Talmud is about three times as large as the other, and is more highly esteemed by the Jews.

© [Webster 1913].

Talmud (definition)