決して

Japanese

Kanji in this term
決
けつ > けっ Grade: 3
kan'on

Etymology

From the conjunctive form of the verb 決(けっ)する (kessuru, “to decide”).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) けっして [kèsshíté] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [ke̞ɕːi̥te̞]

Adverb

決(けっ)して • (kesshite)

(chiefly in the negative) (not) ever, (not) by any means; (not) in the least; emphasizes a negation
- 1914, 夏目漱石 [Natsume Sōseki], chapter 54, in こゝろ [Kokoro], 下先生と遺書 [Sensei's Testament]:
  私(わたくし)と妻(さい)とは決(けっ)して不幸(ふこう)ではありません、幸福(こうふく)でした。
  Watakushi to sai to wa kesshite fukō de wa arimasen, kōfuku deshita.
  My wife and I were not unhappy in the slightest; we were happy.
certainly; surely
Synonyms: きっと, 必ず

Derived terms

けして (keshite)

Verb

決(けっ)して • (kesshite)

conjunctive form of 決する (kessuru) [suru]

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN