束 bundle of sticks

木 (tree) + 口 (mouth/small box radical)
★★★☆☆
7 strokes
DUH
"Faggot" is an interesting concept. To an ancient Frankish barbarian, it meant "bundle of sticks," in English it means a gay man, in German it means bassoon, in Italian it's the symbol of homophobic Fascism, and in Japanese it's just 束. Imagine the tree is just a bunch of lumber and the loop around it is kind of a rope tied in a knot, holding the lumber together. It is a bundle!!

Onyomi

SOKU

I always wear SOCKS when I walk on bundles of sticks. I don't want to get SPLINTERS.

Mnemonic

According to my system, it's tree (木) plus mouth (口) but fuck it- it's easier to just think of it as what it looks like:

Kunyomi

たば bundle
★★☆☆☆

Jukugo

約束(やくそく)

promise ★★★★★
約 (promise/ roughly speaking) + 束 (bundle of sticks) = 約束 (promise)

束縛(そくばく) する

restrain ★☆☆☆☆
束 (bundle of sticks) + 縛 (tie up) = 束縛 (restrain)

to restrain, to restrict, tie up in red tape.

Used In

Synonyms

arrest
逮捕    投獄    拘留する    拘束する   
tie up
縛る    束縛    結ぶ    括る   
unite
合わせる    力を合わせる    併せる    結束   
vow
約束    誓う    契り    誓約書