斩
斬zhǎn
#2,458 most
frequent character
to behead (as form of capital punishment)
Character breakdown
Source: Make Me a Hanzi.
斩 has 斤, a wood-cutting axe, as the meaning part and 车 chē as the sound part, though the link is not obvious today. The axe points to the first meaning, to behead. From beheading it grew to chop or cut.
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