How to say "ritual" in Japanese

• 儀式ぎしきJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounThe general word for a ceremony or ritual — a formal, prescribed sequence of acts at a wedding, funeral, or religious rite. With no special festival or worship coloring, this is the word to reach for.
  この儀式ぎしきは幾いく世代せだいにもわたって伝つたわってきた。↗

  This ceremony has been handed down from generation to generation.
• 祭祀さいしCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbRitual as worship: a religious service offered to gods or ancestors, centered on veneration rather than a public event. Ancestor memorial rites are a core use; an ordinary guest-attended ceremony is not.
• 祭儀さいぎCommon
  nounThe rites performed as part of a festival or religious observance — the ceremonial procedure, not the event itself. It fits 'ritual' meaning the prescribed rites of worship, not an ordinary ceremony.
• 祭事さいじCommon
  nounA festival or religious observance seen as an event or occasion — the festival side of 'ritual', taking in the rites performed within it. Think of a community's annual festivals and observances.
• 儀典ぎてんCommon
  nounRites and ceremonies as official observances — court, state, or institutional ceremonial. For an everyday wedding or funeral, 儀式 is the natural pick; 儀典 suits talk of ceremonial protocol and official rites.

Use 儀式 for ceremonies and rituals in general; the 祭-words center on worship and festivals (祭祀 veneration, 祭儀 the rites of a festival, 祭事 the festival as an event), while 儀典 covers official ceremonial rites.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 儀式ぎしきceremony
• 祭祀さいしritual
• 祭儀さいぎrites
• 祭事さいじfestival
• 儀典ぎてんceremony
• 儀礼的ぎれいてきformal
• 秘儀ひぎsecret ceremony
• 礼典れいてんetiquette
• 儀式的ぎしきてきceremonial
• 式しきceremony
• 儀礼ぎれい(religious) observance
• 礼れいceremony
• お礼おれいceremony