The story
Borrowed from Japanese 系列(けいれつ) (keiretsu, literally “system, series”), from Middle Chinese 繫 (ɣèj, “attached”) + 列 (ljet, “set, row”) (compare Mandarin 系列 (xìliè, “series, set”)).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
keiretsu
Today it means: A set of Japanese companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. Full definition →