診断
しんだん · shindan · JLPT N2 · noun
diagnosis
🩺 dia = through + gnosis = knowing: knowing through close examination, like a doctor's check-up
診 (shin) means examine or check, and 断 (dan) means judge or decide. Together they mean a judgment reached after examining symptoms.
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.