断
断 — Severance
severance, decline, refuse, apologize, warn, dismiss
On’yomiダン (dan)
Kun’yomiたつ (tatsu)
Kun’yomiことわる (kotowaru)
Kun’yomiさだめる (sadameru)
Stroke order (11 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 断
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 判断 | はんだん handan | judgment; judgement; decision |
| 決断 | けつだん ketsudan | decision; determination |
| 診断 | しんだん shindan | diagnosis; medical examination |
| 断 | だん dan | decision; judgment; resolution |
| 断念 | だんねん dannen | abandoning (hope, plans); giving up |
| 横断 | おうだん oudan | crossing (a road, river, etc.); cutting through (e.g. of a river through a town); cutting across |
Study notes
断 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 11 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #338 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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