间断
jiàn duàn · HSK 7
interrupted
✂️🔌 间 (gap/interval) + 断 (to cut off) = a gap that cuts something off: interrupted
间 means gap or interval, 断 means to break or cut off. Together: action keeps cutting out at intervals, so it is intermittent or suspended. Sound: jiàn duàn, like John-Dwan.
间 — gate 門 + sun 日 (originally moon 月)
Originally written 閒, showing the moon 月 shining through a gate 門 — the gap or space between the doors. The moon was later replaced by 日 (sun), giving the modern 间. The core meaning 'space/interval between' extended to time intervals, rooms, and the measure word for buildings.
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.