# 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

- 疎
- 頼
- 速
- 整

## 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