切る
Meaning in Englishcut, hang up
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
What does 切る (kiru) mean? 切る (kiru) primarily means to separate or divide by applying force or a decision; in usage it covers physically cutting an object, severing a connection, or bringing an ongoing action or relationship to an end, so the core concept is making a clear break or stop.
Main meanings
- To switch off electricity, lights or appliances — used when ending power or signal.
- To terminate a phone call or disconnect a line, commonly used in telephony contexts.
- As an auxiliary 〜切る (~kiru) it denotes doing something completely or to the limit, often adding the sense “to finish entirely.”
- To break a record or cross a numerical threshold in measurements and timing.
- To cut short or interrupt an action or conversation abruptly.
How to use it
Used across daily speech, technical and formal registers with differences in politeness and compounds; common in kitchens and craftwork for literal actions, in phone and IT contexts for disconnecting signals, and in conversational commands or reports when stopping or finishing something; the verb is usually transitive and appears in casual forms, polite conjugations, and as part of compound verbs and auxiliaries to change nuance.
Variants and close terms
- 断つ (tatsu) — to sever or stop (often used for abstract breaks, more formal).
- 切断する (setsudansuru) — to cut off or sever (technical/medical term).
- 中止する (chuushi suru) — to suspend or cancel (near antonym in the sense of stopping planned activity).
- 繋ぐ (tsunagu) — to connect or link (antonym).
Composition
The single kanji 切 (き in parts) combines the knife radical 刂 (knife, indicating the action of cutting) with a left-hand component historically written as 七 that functions as a phonetic/graphic element; the verb ending る marks the dictionary form and inflection class of the verb 切る (kiru), so the character conveys the idea of slicing or severing while る turns it into the verbal action.
Etymology
The verb 切る (kiru) is inherited from Old Japanese, tracing to a Proto-Japonic root *kir- meaning ‘cut/separate’; phonetic continuity appears across historical stages of Japanese with minimal sound change, preserving the basic verb stem and its conjugational pattern into modern Japanese.
Word class
verb, transitive u-verb (Godan verb - 五段動詞)