Meaning & readings
bundle, sheaf, ream, tie in bundles, govern, manage, control
On’yomi ソク
Kun’yomi たば、たば.ねる、つか、つか.ねる
Origin
This character pictures sticks or straw bound tightly together. The two wood components on either side represent the bundle of sticks or branches, while the square in the middle represents the cord or band that holds them together. When you tie things up this way, you're controlling and organizing separate pieces into one unified whole, which is how the meaning extended to "govern" or "manage." The visual of restraint and binding naturally came to express the idea of keeping things organized and under control.
Common words
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 7
- Kangxi radical
- 75
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #918 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+0675F