置く
おく · oku · JLPT N5 · verb-godan
to put
📦 oku sounds like OK — OK, put it down right there
Say OK, then set the thing down: o-ku. The kanji 置 stacks 罒 (net) over 直 (straight), from setting a net up straight, which gave the sense of placing something and leaving it there.
置 — net 罒 (top) + straight 直 (bottom)
Originally a phono-semantic compound: the net 网/罒 on top suggested the idea of catching or pardoning a criminal, while 直 ('straight, upright') gave the sound and hinted at setting things upright. The meaning shifted from 'pardon, set free' to the modern senses 'place, put, set up, establish'.