Whereas Halakha translates roughly to "the way of walking", minhag lends itself to the styles that Jews developed vis-à-vis Halakha. Furthermore, derekh rtl=yes, which translates roughly to "path", is the itinerary Jewish communities maintain while walking.

The present use of minhag for "custom" may have been influenced by the Arabic minhaj; in current Islamic usage, the term is used for the intellectual methodology of a scholar or school of thought rather than for the customs of a local or ethnic