経緯|けいいkeii[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. noundetails; particulars; sequence of events; circumstances; situation; how things got this way
   彼女かのじょが今いまの名声めいせいを得うるに至いたったいきさつは劇的げきてきである。↗

   The events that led up to her present fame are quite dramatic.
2. nounlongitude and latitude
3. nounwarp and weft; warp and woof

• Synonym話はなしCasualColloquial. Talk, a chat, or a topic; in everyday speech it can also cover how something happened, where 「経緯」 is the more formal choice.
• Synonym沿革えんかくWrittenWritten/formal prose. The development of an organization or institution over time, as in 「学校の沿革」; 「経緯」 covers the course of events more generally.
• Synonym来歴らいれきWrittenWritten/formal prose. The road a thing has travelled, or a person's past career, as with an artwork's provenance; a bookish word for someone's or something's history.
• Synonym史しWrittenWritten/formal prose. History, used mostly as a suffix as in 「日本史」; it names a field or record of the past, not the course of an event.
• Synonym成り立ちなりたちNeutralNeutral. How a thing came about or is put together, as in 「漢字の成り立ち」; it looks at formation and structure, not the sequence of events.
• Related物語ものがたりNeutralNeutral. A story or tale, centred on narrative plot; 「経緯」 can be recounted too, but its focus is the actual course of events rather than a storyline.
• Related歴史れきしNeutralNeutral. History in the broad sense: change over long stretches of time, far wider in scope than the course of a single event covered by 「経緯」.
• Related話はなしCasualColloquial. Talk, a chat, or a topic; in everyday speech it can also cover how something happened, where 「経緯」 is the more formal choice.
• Related由来ゆらいWrittenWritten/formal prose. The origin or source of a thing, as in 「地名の由来」; it points to where something comes from rather than the course of events.
• Related由緒ゆいしょWrittenWritten/formal prose. A thing's pedigree or history, as in 「由緒ある寺」; it often carries a sense of a distinguished, praiseworthy past.
• Related履歴りれきWrittenWritten/formal prose. A person's history or career, or a log of actions such as 「閲覧履歴」; it is a record, not an account of how events unfolded.
• RelatedストーリーCasualColloquial loanword. A story or plot, focused on the narrative line; 「経緯」 focuses on how events actually unfolded, even when told as an account.
• Related史しWrittenWritten/formal prose. History, used mostly as a suffix as in 「日本史」; it names a field or record of the past, not the course of an event.
• Related素性すじょうWrittenWritten/formal prose. A person's birth, background and identity, as in 「素性を隠す」; it is about who someone is, not how events unfolded.
• RelatedいわれWrittenWritten/formal prose. The origin or reason behind something, as in 「名前の謂れ」; it stresses where a thing came from, while 「経緯」 stresses how events unfolded.
• RelatedヒストリーCasualColloquial loanword for history. Rare in everyday speech; it mostly appears in names and titles rather than as a word for circumstances.

For the course of events — how something happened — use 「経緯」, as in 「事の経緯を説明する」. For origins use 「由来」 or 「謂れ」; for an organization's history 「沿革」; for a personal record 「履歴」; for how a thing formed 「成り立ち」; for a person's background 「素性」. 「物語」 and 「ストーリー」 are for stories, 「歴史」 for history at large.

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

1. （けいい、たてぬき、たてよこ）経糸たていとと緯糸よこいと（機織はたおりの用語ようごに由来ゆらい）
2. （けいい）地球ちきゅうの経度けいどと緯度いど。
3. （けいい、いきさつ）物事ものごとの細こまかないきさつ・事情じじょう。