絶版
ぜっぱん · zeppan · JLPT N1 · noun
📕 zep-PAN sounds like 'zap the pan': a book whose print run is zapped out of existence, gone for good
絶 means cut off or severed and 版 means printing plate or edition. A 絶版 book is one whose printing plates have been cut off, so no new copies get made.
版 — 片 (slice/board) + 反 (phonetic 'fǎn')
版 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 片 component means a thin slice or board of wood, indicating the meaning, while 反 supplies the sound. Originally it referred to wooden writing tablets or printing blocks, which extended to today's senses of 'edition,' 'printing plate,' and 'version.'