置

Net radical on top — the top-stacked form of 网. Originally 置 meant 'to set free a captive, lay aside' — to put aside the net, releasing what was caught. From 'set aside' developed the modern senses 'place, set up, arrange'. Same radical anchors 罗 net, 罚 punish, 罪 crime, 署 office — the legal-trapping family.

Bottom 直 supplies the sound: zhí → zhì with only tone shift. 直 itself shows an eye (目) looking up a vertical line — a direct gaze. Carries faint semantic resonance: to 置 something is to set it down 'straight, properly placed'. Same phonetic gives 值 zhí (worth), 植 zhí (plant), 殖 zhí (multiply).