決断
けつだん · ketsudan · JLPT N1 · noun
decision
決 decide + 断 cut off: a decision cuts away the other options
決 originally meant to breach or cut open a dike, and 断 means to sever. Ketsudan settles a matter by cutting away the alternatives.
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.