嘱 means “entrust, commission”

しょく · shoku

Also: request, send a message

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
しょくする, たのむ
On'yomi (Chinese reading)
ショク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 15 strokes

The story

A mouth (口) beside 属, belong: words that hand a job to someone you count as one of your own. 嘱託 is contract work, often what Japanese employees take on after retiring, and a young talent with a bright future is 将来を嘱望される.

Used in 嘱託 (shokutaku, contract staff/commission), 委嘱 (ishoku, commissioning), and 嘱望 (shokubou, high hopes for)

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.