断章取义 — Chinese idiom
断章取义
duàn zhāng qǔ yì
Traditional: 斷章取義
Meaning
- to quote out of context
Character by character
- 断duànto sever, to cut off, to interrupt
- 章zhāngchapter, section, writing; seal
- 取qǔto take, to receive, to obtain; to select
- 义yìright conduct, propriety; justice
Idioms sharing a character
- 一刀两断 yī dāo liǎng duàn
- 伤筋断骨 shāng jīn duàn gǔ
- 割袍断义 gē páo duàn yì
- 多谋善断 duō móu shàn duàn
- 应机立断 yìng jī lì duàn
- 投鞭断流 tóu biān duàn liú
- 接连不断 jiē lián bù duàn
- 断壁残垣 duàn bì cán yuán
- 断港绝潢 duàn gǎng jué huáng
- 断袖之癖 duàn xiù zhī pǐ
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.