くびき

ヨーク
頸木 is the native Japanese term for the same crosspiece used to yoke animals together, and is also the more common word for the figurative 'yoke of oppression'; ヨーク is a katakana loanword often used in historical or Western-context descriptions.

Written forms

くびきUsage61%
Usually written in kana. The kanji forms are rare or search-only.
軛くびきUsage31%
Rare kanji form; mainly encountered in historical or technical contexts.
頸くび木きUsage8%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
衡くびき
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.

Etymology

The word is native Japanese. The kanji 軛 specifically means 'yoke', while other forms are variant spellings. The figurative sense developed from the physical yoke as a symbol of subjugation.