断つ
たつ · tatsu · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to sever
✂️🪓 tatsu ≈ that's it! — what you say when you cut someone off for good
The kanji 断 contains 斤, the axe radical, next to bundled threads (𢇍 with 米), so it reads as threads cut with an axe. The same 断 appears in 断る (kotowaru, to refuse) and 判断 (handan, judgement).
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.