一いっ途とを辿たどる

い

っ

と

を

た

ど

る

Meanings

expression, godan verb (-ru)

continue on a course; keep going; follow a trend

Used in the pattern 〜の一途を辿る to describe a situation that continues or progresses in a certain direction, often with a nuance of inevitability or steady change. Commonly used with nouns like 増加 (increase), 減少 (decrease), 悪化 (worsening), etc.

地ち球きゅう温おん暖だん化かは悪あっ化かの一いっ途とを辿たどっている。
Global warming continues to worsen.
彼かれの人にん気きは上じょう昇しょうの一いっ途とを辿たどった。
His popularity kept rising steadily.

Written forms

一いっ途とを辿たどる
Standard kanji spelling; 辿 is a common-use kanji for 'follow' or 'trace'.
一いっ途とをたどる
Kana spelling for 辿る; common in everyday writing.

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
途route, way, road
辿follow (road), pursue

Similar words

一いっ方ぽうだ
一方だ also expresses a continuing trend, but is more neutral and can be used with verbs directly (e.g., 増える一方だ). 一途を辿る is more literary and often implies a sense of following a path or course, frequently used with nouns describing change.

Etymology

一途 (いっと) means 'one path' or 'one course', and 辿る (たどる) means 'to follow' or 'to trace'. The phrase literally means 'to follow a single path', figuratively describing a continuous progression in a certain direction.