端緒

• 読み: たんしょ
• ローマ字: tansho
• 漢字の分解: 端 (tan) — edge, tip, beginning | 緒 (sho) — thread, beginning
• 発音: /tan.ɕo/

意味

Beginning; clue; start; origin. The first thread or opening that allows something to get underway.

A formal noun carrying the nuance of an initial point of entry or opening clue — especially used in investigations, research, and historical narrative. The phrase 端緒をつかむ (to grasp the first clue) is particularly common in journalism and crime reporting. It implies that the beginning is not incidental but a decisive moment that unlocks further progress.

例文

1. その一冊の本との出会いが、彼の研究の端緒となった。
2. 捜査の端緒すらつかめないまま、事件は迷宮入りしそうだった。
3. 小さな内部告発が端緒となり、組織的な不正が次々と明らかになった。

使い方ガイド

場面: journalism, investigation, historical writing, legal contexts

トーン: precise

起源と歴史

Compound of 端 (tan) meaning 'edge, tip, beginning' and 緒 (sho) meaning 'thread, cord, beginning'. The image is of finding the end of a thread that, once pulled, unravels a whole cloth.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: Adults

社会的背景: Educated