The kanji 付 generally conveys the meaning of "to attach," "to add," "to adhere," or "to be associated with." It implies a connection, addition, or affixing of something to something else. It suggests the act of attaching, appending, or including something, either physically or metaphorically.

・On-yomi (音読み): フ（fu） ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): つ付く（tsu付ku - to attach, to adhere), つけ付る（tsuke付ru - to attach, to add)

⚫︎ 添付ファイル（tenpu fairu） Translation: Attachment (to a file) ⚫︎ 付ける（tsukeru） Translation: To attach, to add, to put on ⚫︎ 付属（fuzoku） Translation: Attached; affiliated; annexed

The kanji 付 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The left side is the radical of "人" (person/human) which is simplified to "亻" (ninben), and it indicates the meaning of the kanji character. The right side is "寸" (sun), which originally meant "a unit of length," but it functions here as the phonetic component, indicating the pronunciation and possibly suggesting the idea of something being measured or measured to adhere. So, the character's formation suggests an action related to humans or human activities, and the phonetic component provides a clue to its sound. Over time, the meaning evolved to mean "to attach," "to add," or "to adhere" because of the act of adding or attaching things by people.