Syllable division derived from spelling — this word is not in the pronouncing dictionary, so no phonetic transcription is shown rather than a guessed one.
handed-down is an adjective meaning "having been passed along from generation to generation". It carries one recorded sense.
having been passed along from generation to generation
“among Biblical critics a tralatitious interpretation is one received by expositor from expositor”
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for handed-down come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.