一切

いっさい · issai · JLPT N1 · noun

exception

一 (one) + 切 (cut): cut into one whole, so 'everything with none left out'

一 means one or whole, and 切 means cut or slice. Together they describe every piece taken, nothing set aside, so the meaning is without exception.

一 — single horizontal stroke
一 is one of the simplest pictographs in Chinese, depicting a single horizontal line to represent the number one. It has retained essentially the same form since oracle bone script over 3,000 years ago. By extension it also means 'first,' 'whole,' or 'same.'

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.

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