sentakushi

Sentakushi (選択肢) is a Japanese noun meaning "option" or "choice" within a set of possibilities. It is commonly used to refer to the items presented for selection in contexts such as surveys, forms, tests, or user interfaces.

In practice, 選択肢 are the choices users can pick from; for example, a multiple-choice question might list four 選択肢. The phrase is typically used with verbs such as 選ぶ (to choose) or 決定する (to decide).

Etymology: the word is formed from 選択 (selection) and 肢 (an archaic term meaning "limb" but used metaphorically here to denote a branch or option). The combination emphasizes that each 選択肢 represents a possible path.

Translations include "options" or "choices" in English. In computing, 選択肢 may appear as menu items or dropdown options; in statistics or questionnaires, they appear as answer choices.