Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons

断: severance, decline

Also: refuse, apologize, warn, dismiss, prohibit, decision, judgement, cutting

JLPT N311 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

斤 carries the meaning · 米 is drawn in

11 strokes

Three readings, and the words that use each

ダンdan · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 断食だんじきfasting
  • 断面だんめんcross-section
  • 横断歩道おうだんほどうpedestrian crossing
  • 断続的なだんぞくてきなintermittent
  • 断定的なだんていてきなassertive
  • 判断するはんだんするjudge [v.i.]
  • 決断するけつだんするdecide
  • 中断するちゅうだんするinterrupt, break off
  • 油断するゆだんするneglect, be off guard [v.i.]
  • 診断するしんだんするdiagnose

たつtatsu · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 断つたつcut off, sever, abstain from

ことわるkotowaru · kun'yomi

  • 断ることわるrefuse, decline

Also read さだめる, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Ideogrammic compound (會意)𢇍 to cut + 斤 axe

Source: Wiktionary, 斷 (rev. 91442740), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Axe (斤) + a thread/continuity. To take an "axe" and "cut off" the thread of a problem—the act of making a final decision or severing a connection.”
From the 斤 axe story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
米

Also built on rice (米)

All 17
斤

Also built on axe (斤)

All 13

Also read ダン

11 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
断 severance · 斤
vs迷 astray · ⻌
断 has 斤 where 迷 has ⻌.
In ChineseSimplified, as in Japanese · traditional 斷 · duàn

Japan uses the same simplified form as mainland China, 断. Taiwan and Hong Kong write 斷.

Simplified
断 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
斷 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin duàn most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

One click tells us. No sign-up.