中断
ちゅうだん · chuudan · JLPT N1 · noun
break
✂️ 中 (middle) + 断 (cut) = cut in the middle = interruption, suspension, break
断 means cut or sever, as in 断水 (water cut off). 中 means middle. Cutting something partway through stops its flow, which is the core meaning of 中断.
中 — vertical stroke 丨 through enclosure 口
Pictograph of a banner or pole piercing the center of a target or territory, depicting the idea of 'middle' or 'center'. The horizontal frame represents boundaries, and the vertical line marks the central axis. The meaning extended from spatial center to 'middle, central, China' (中国, the Middle Kingdom).
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.