jué

to decide

to determine; to execute (sb); (of a dam etc) to breach or burst; definitely; certainly

ice (冫) + split (夬) = a decisive break

The image is of water or ice forcing a breach — a dam bursting, a cut that cannot be undone. That irreversible rupture is the root of deciding: once the break is made, there is no going back.

+
IceSemantic
A notched piecePhonetic, Semantic

Words with 决

否决

fǒu jué

to veto

否决权

fǒu jué quán

veto power

速战速决

sù zhàn sù jué

(idiom) to adopt a blitzkrieg strategy; to resolve sth in the shortest time possible

速决

sù jué

quick decision

运筹帷幄之中,决胜千里之外

yùn chóu wéi wò zhī zhōng , jué shèng qiān lǐ zhī wài

a general planning in the seclusion of his tent is able to determine the outcome of the distant battle (idiom)

远未解决

yuǎn wèi jiě jué

far from solved

一决雌雄

yī jué cí xióng

to have a showdown; to fight for mastery; to compete for a championship

下定决心

xià dìng jué xīn

to make a firm resolution

下决心

xià jué xīn

to determine

中苏解决悬案大纲协定

zhōng sū jiě jué xuán àn dà gāng xié dìng

the treaty of 1923 normalizing relations between the Soviet Union and the Northern Warlord government of China

先决

xiān jué

prerequisite; necessary

先决问题

xiān jué wèn tí

issue that needs to be addressed first (before another issue can be resolved)

More characters with 冫