快刀乱麻を断つ

Japanese

Kanji in this term
快 刀 乱 麻 断
かい
Grade: 5
とう
Grade: 2
らん
Grade: 6
ま
Grade: S
た
Grade: 5
kan’on kan’yōon kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
快刀亂麻を斷つ (kyūjitai)

Etymology

快刀 (kaitō, “sharp katana”) +‎ 乱麻 (ranma, “tangled skein; chaos”) +‎ を (o, object particle) +‎ 断つ (tatsu, “to cut”); calque of Chinese 快刀斬亂麻/快刀斩乱麻 (kuàidāo zhǎn luànmá).

Verb

快(かい)刀(とう)乱(らん)麻(ま)を断(た)つ • (kaitō ranma o tatsu) ←くわいたうらんまをたつ (kwaitauranmawotatu)?godan (stem 快(かい)刀(とう)乱(らん)麻(ま)を断(た)ち (kaitō ranma o tachi), past 快(かい)刀(とう)乱(らん)麻(ま)を断(た)った (kaitō ranma o tatta))

  1. (idiomatic) to cut the Gordian knot

Conjugation

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