The kanji 属 primarily conveys the idea of "to belong," "to be affiliated with," "to be subordinate to," or "to be a member of a group or category." It implies a relationship of connection, association, or dependence. It suggests that something is part of a larger whole or under the control or influence of something else.

・On-yomi (音読み): ぞく (zoku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): さ(する) (sa(suru))

⚫︎所属 (しょぞく) Translation: affiliation; belonging; membership ⚫︎付属 (ふぞく) Translation: attached; affiliated; annexed ⚫︎金属 (きんぞく) Translation: metal

The kanji 属 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is 尸 (しかばね - shīkabane) which means "corpse" or "body," and the right side is 蜀 (しょく - shoku), which is the name of an ancient state. The original meaning might have related to the people of the state being "subordinate to" or "belonging to" that state. The meaning evolved to encompass the general concept of belonging and affiliation.