切断
qiēduàn · HSK 7
sever
✂️ 切 (cut) + 断 (break off) = cut and break it apart: sever, disconnect
Both characters mean cutting: 切 is to slice and 断 is to snap or break a continuous thing in two. Together they stress a clean, complete cut — severing a wire, amputating a limb, or shutting off a supply so nothing flows across the break.
切 — 七 (phonetic) + 刀 (knife radical)
切 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 刀 'knife' gives the meaning of cutting, while 七 supplies the sound. The original sense was to slice or cut with a blade. From there it extended figuratively to 'close to' (as in pressed against) and 'urgent/earnest', as in 切实.
断 — thread 㡭 (silk bundle) + axe 斤
Originally written with 㡭 (entangled silk threads) on the left and 斤 (axe) on the right, depicting an axe cutting through bundled threads. From this concrete image of severing came the meanings 'to cut off,' 'to break,' and by extension 'to decide' or 'judge'—as in resolving a matter decisively.