約束
Meaning in Englishpromise, appointment, arrangement
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
約束 (yakusoku) means a mutual pledge or agreed arrangement between people or parties; it denotes a commitment to perform (or refrain from) an action or to meet at a specified time and carries an expectation of being honored.
Main meanings
- As an appointment: a specifically arranged meeting time agreed by participants.
- As a contractual term: a clause or obligation within formal agreements or promises with legal or business weight.
- As a personal vow: a solemn or emotional pledge one makes to another.
- As a casual assurance: informal or playful guarantees between friends that are socially binding but not legally enforceable.
- As a social expectation: an understood obligation that affects trust and reputation when kept or broken.
How to use it
Used across everyday, social and business contexts, from casual promises among friends to formal commitments in contracts; functions as a noun and commonly pairs with the verb suru to form a verb phrase, appears in polite speech in business settings and in informal speech among acquaintances, and is central when arranging meetings, making vows, or setting expectations.
Variants and close terms
- 承諾 (shōdaku) — consent, acceptance
- 合意 (gōi) — mutual agreement
- 誓約 (seiyaku) — oath, sworn promise
- 取り決め (torikime) — arrangement, stipulation
- 裏切り (uragiri) — betrayal (antonym: breaking the trust of a promise)
Composition
- 約 (yaku): notions of binding, agreement and approximation; suggests a restriction or agreed term.
- 束 (soku): bundle, tie or bind; implies bringing things together or fastening.
- Together the characters evoke the idea of fastening or binding an agreement—hence a committed arrangement or pledge.
Origin
The compound entered Japanese from Sino-Japanese vocabulary and appears in historical records and classical writings; over centuries it became common in both literary and everyday language and was used in formal contracts, social agreements and personal correspondence as Japanese legal and commercial practices developed.
Word class
noun; verbal noun (suru-verb) (名詞, サ変動詞)