entries → 切
TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
切 character · TOCFL 2 (est.)
切 ＝ 七 ＋ 刀
ㄑㄧㄝ · qiē/qiè
verb — (qiē) to cut; (qiè) close, pressing; 一切 — all

字源 FORM — what the parts do

七聲qī — gives the sound; the cut's first graph, before seven borrowed it
FTqī → qiē/qiè — the final opens; the qiè branch bends the tone
刀義a knife
七 first drew a cut — one stroke severed crosswise. The number seven borrowed the graph, so a knife (刀) was added to keep writing the cut. Read qiē it cuts: 切菜, 切開. Read qiè it presses close — 親切, 密切 — and sweeps everything up in 一切.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

刀（刀）落下去，瓜應聲分成兩半——切面平平的。
The knife (刀) drops; the melon falls open in two — the cut faces flat and clean.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
qiē
(本義)切開、切菜— to cut常用
qiè
(引申)密切、親切— close against — intimate, pressing
→一切— all, everything — the whole lot常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
七qīthe donor — and the cut's first graph割gēthe cutting partner — the same knife, full word-size