Chinese character 絕

It begins with the idea of cutting something off.

Early inscriptions on oracle bones (animal bones used for divination) and bronze vessels pair a knife with threadlike marks, suggesting silk being cut. The sense extends to breaking a connection, stopping a flow, using up a supply, refusing an offer, or crossing a boundary.

Chinese compounds take the idea in different directions: 絕交 is breaking off a relationship, 絕望 is despair, and 絕對 means absolute or definite. Japanese usually writes the corresponding character as 絶, which can mark exceptional quality in compounds.