keiretsu

K5E1I1R1E1T1S1U1
/keɪˈɹɛtsu/

noun

A set of Japanese companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings.

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Meanings

nounkeiretsu (plural keiretsus or keiretsu)

plural keiretsus

  1. A set of Japanese companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings.

    Japan's keiretsu—or families of firms in large scratch-each-other's back networks—supported this or that faction in the LDP, producing a highly successful, structurally corrupt model of economic development that showed remarkable resilience through Japan's high growth economic period.

    2011 August 1, Steve Clemons, “China's Internal Pluralism Is Nothing to Cheer About”, in The Atlantic

Origin

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”)).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Polish keiretsu
  • keiretsuTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

keiretsu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keiretsu

MLA

“keiretsu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keiretsu. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “keiretsu,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keiretsu.

Source: keiretsu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.