King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “cutting”

Romaji: setsudan
cutting; severance; section; amputation

In Japanese, cutting is , read (setsudan).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

  1. n, vs, vt cutting; severance; section; amputation; disconnection

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

cut, cutoff, be sharp
on: セツ、サイ
kun: き.る、-き.る、き.り、-き.り
4 strokes · JLPT 3
severance, decline, refuse
on: ダン
kun: た.つ、ことわ.る、さだ.める
11 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “cutting”

WordReadingMeaning
さいだん saidancutting (cloth, paper, etc.)
きりとり kiritoricutting; tearing off; cutting off
きざみ kizamimincing; cutting; chopping
カット kattocut; cutting
きりぬき kirinukiclipping (of newspaper article, etc.); cutting; scrap (for a scrapbook)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
たいせつ taisetsuimportant; significant; serious
いっさい issaiall; everything; entirety
てきせつ tekisetsuappropriate; suitable; fitting
きり kiriend; finish; place to stop
きる kiruto cut; to cut through; to perform (surgery)
しんせつ shinsetsukind; gentle; considerate
はんだん handanjudgment; judgement; decision
しんだん shindandiagnosis; medical examination

See also: Chinese symbol for “cutting”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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