Taxonomy of meanings for 斷:　　

  • 斷 duǎn (OC: toonʔ MC: tʷɑn) 都管切 上 廣韻：【斷絕俗作㫁断又徒管切 】
  • 斷 duàn (OC: doonʔ MC: dʷɑn) 徒管切 上 廣韻：【絶也徒管切三 】
    • BREAK OFF
      • vtoNN=massget broken (not necessarily "be broken by someone".
      • vtoNperfectivebreak off, break to pieces
      • vadVbrokenlyLZ
      • vadNbroken offLZ
      • figurative> STOP
        • viactinterrupt oneself in doing what one is doing
        • vt+V[0]stop V-ing
        • vtoNstop; put a stop to
        • vtoNfigurativecut oneself of from, desist from; abstain from
        • vtoNfigurativebe cut off (with abstract nouns)
        • by use of language> FORBID
          • figurative: expected action> REFUSE
            • vtoNabstain with regard to; abstain from
        • with knife> CUT
          • vpostadVdegreeverbal complement: V to the degree of cutting/breaking off
          • vt+Nhave one's N cut off
          • vtoNcut off; cut up; mutilate; cut to make shorter; cut down
          • vtoNcausativehave cut off (one's own head)
          • vtoNpassivebe cut up; be cut off; have been cut off
          • vtoNiussivehave N cut off; have N cut downTW
          • specific> CUT HAIR
            • vtoNcut hair very shortCH
          • with teeth> BITE
            • vtoNbite through, bite offCH
          • resultative: so as to separate> DIVIDE
            • with lethal consequences> KILL
          • grammaticalised: time> FROM
          • 斷 duàn (OC: toons MC: tʷɑn) 丁貫切 去 廣韻：【決斷俗作㫁断 】
            • DECIDE
              • nabactdecision-making; decision
              • vibe decisive
              • viacttake decisions; take the political decisions; make legal decisions
              • vt+V[0]decide to
              • vt+V[0]stativebe determined to
              • vtoNmake a definitive decision on
              • vtoNpassivebe decided
              • vt[oN]take final decisions on thingsCH
              • abstract:moral decisiveness> COURAGE
                • nabdispositiondicisiveness, decisive determination CA
                • vadVdecisively
              • legal case> JUDGE
                • vt+prep+Npassivebe imposed by way of judgment on N
                • vtoNdetermine the merits of a case put forward; pass the final judgment
                • vtoSmake a judgement in the sense of SDS
              • administrative matters concerning> GOVERN
                • grammaticalised: adverbial> CERTAIN

                Additional information about 斷

                說文解字:

                  Criteria
                • INVESTIGATE

                  1. The most general words for investigating something are chá 察 "sort out clearly" and shen 審 "investigate carefully".

                  2. Kǎo 考 and jī 稽 refer to an objective investigation into something on the basis of the best available evidence.

                  3. Xǐng 省 typically refers to investigation by introspection.

                  4. Jiū 究 and qióng 窮 emphasise the thoroughness and exhaustiveness of an investigation.

                  5. Xiáng 詳, xī 悉, and dì 諦 focus on the detailed nature of an investigation without insisting on its exhaustiveness.

                  6. Yuán 原 refers to a principled investigation into all aspects of a topic, getting to the bottom of a matter.

                  NB: pàn 判涄 ome to a result in an investigation � does not refer to the investigation itself but only the final act of judgment on the result; d“ng 定洖 etermine (the truth of a matter) is a resultative verb. Duàn 斷烒 each a conclusion on an investigation � is close to pàn 判.

                • DECIDE

                  1. The most common general word for making a decision is duàn 斷, which emphasis the definitiveness of what has been decided on, but speaks of the process by which that final decision is being reached rather than the result as such.

                  2. Jué 決 focusses on the the result as such, and the word can be used about decisons already made where duàn 斷 seems excluded. ( 事已決 not: 事已斷矣 )

                  3. Dìng 定 refers to the fixing something not only for oneself but primarily for others. See FIX

                  4. Cái 裁 refers to the action of making a public decision as taken by a person in authority.

                • BREAK OFF

                  1. The most general word for breaking anything off is zhé 折 and the word refers to the action of breaking something off as such; the action of breaking is not necessarily attributed to a person or animal: the wind may zhé 折 something off.

                  2. Duàn 斷 refers to the resultative aspect of the breaking off, typically also cutting off, and the word tended to be metaphorical in early texts, increasingly taking on its concrete meaning at later stages. See CUT.

                  3. Jué 絕 refers - often metaphorically - to causing something to become discontinuous, to be interrupted or broken off.

                  4. Cuī 摧 explicitly refers to human actions of breaking off. (If passivised, these verbs always invite the question of who the agent was.)

                  5. Cuò 挫 refers specifically to blunting the edge of something by breaking off what is sharp, and the word is in any case marginal in this group.

                • JUDGE

                  1. The general legal term for passing judgement is lùn 論.

                  2. Dāng 當 is to sit in judgment of a matter and determine guilt.

                  3. Duàn 斷 is the conclusion of the process of legal investigation.

                  4. Bào 報 refers to the announcement of the judgment passed.

                  5. Lǐ 理 refers to the office of the person who is professionally in charge of passing judgment, the judge.

                • COURAGE

                  1. The standard general word for courage is yǒng 勇 (ant. nuò 懦 "pusillanimousness, chicken-liveredness"), which refers to positive boldness evinced in the face of danger or risk. Cf. fortitudo

                  2. Hàn 悍 (ant. qiè 怯 "fearfulness") is foolhardiness and recklessness under conditions of danger or risk. Cf. Latin ferocia

                  3. Gǎn 敢 (ant. qiè 怯 "fearfulness") is the ability of an individual to take considered reasonable risks where appropriate or where required by ritual propriety.

                  4. Guǒ 果 and duàn 斷 (ant. xū1 需 "hestant") is general resoluteness as an attitude towards the conduct of one's affairs. Cf. Latin audacia

                  5. Zhì 志 "morale, fighting spirit" and the rarer wǔ 武 is the courageous warlike attitude of a whole group. Cf. Latin acrimonia, animus

                  6. Qì 氣 "morale, fighting spirit" is typically the morale of an individual but can also occasionally be used of groups. Cf. Latin spiritus

                • CONTINUE

                  1. The most current general word for continuing to do something and also for continuing a tradition is jì 繼 (ant. jué 絕 "disrupt a tradition") which concentrates on the original thing that is being continued or made longer.

                  2. Xù 續 (ant. duàn 斷 "interrupt a tradition") focusses on what is being added in the lengthening process, and the dominant meaning of the word is spatial lengthening.

                  3. Zhuǎn 轉 is refers to continuation by alternation of the agent and is translatable as "continuing in turn".

                  4. Chéng 承 refers to the continuation of an abstract tradition.

                  5. Yè 業 refers primarily to the continuation of the trade or tradition of one's own forebears.

                  6. Réng 仍 focusses on the uninterrupted and continuous pursuance of an activity over a continuing period.

                  7. Sì 嗣, which came to mean "succeed as an heir", was used in early texts to refer to the continuation of any tradition or practice.

                  8. Yán 延 is current in the meaning "continue" in OBI.

                • CUT

                  1. The commonest general word for "cut" is ancient Chinese kat, modern reading gē 割.

                  2. Qiē 切 is to cut into pieces.

                  3. Duàn 斷 is to cut a part off a whole.

                  4. Zhǎn 斬, fá 伐, zhuó 斫, zhuó 斲 describe the violent hacking off of a part from a whole.

                  5. Shān 芟 is to cut grass or shrubs.

                  6. Pī 披 "pare" refer to the treatment of surfaces of objects by cutting into them to produce smoothness of surface or a pointed end.

                  7. Pǒu 剖 refers to cutting into something so as to reveal its inner structure. See SPLIT

                  8. Xiāo 削 typically refers to cutting something off so as to reduce its size.

                  9. Jiǎn 翦 refers specifically to the clipping of something that grows on a living structure.

                  NB: The size of the vocabulary in this field is extraordinary: over 70 wods are listed under this meaning.

                  Word relations
                • Ant: (BREAK OFF)續/CONTINUE Xù 續 (ant. duàn 斷 "interrupt a tradition") focusses on what is being added in the lengthening process, and the dominant meaning of the word is spatial lengthening.
                • Contrast: (BREAK OFF)斬/CUT Zhǎn 斬, fá 伐, zhuó 斫, zhuó 斲 describe the violent hacking off of a part from a whole.
                • Assoc: (DECIDE)決/DECIDE Jué 決 focusses on the the result as such, and the word can be used about decisons already made where duàn 斷 seems excluded. (事已決 not: 事已斷矣)
                • Assoc: (DECIDE)決/DECIDE Jué 決 focusses on the the result as such, and the word can be used about decisons already made where duàn 斷 seems excluded. (事已決 not: 事已斷矣)
                • Assoc: (CUT)斬/BEHEAD The standard word for beheading others is zhǎn 斬.