It originally meant job and duty as the Chinese character 所務 literally means (where a person works), an example of which was shown in "Shoku Nihongi" (Chronicle of Japan Continued); and in the Heian period, as shoen koryo sei (The System of Public Lands and Private Estates) developed, it came to mean the management of private estates and public lands and rights and obligations involved.
元来は務めるところという字義どおり仕事・職務を意味しており、『続日本紀』に事例を見出せるが、平安時代の荘園公領制の展開に伴い、荘園や公領の管理とこれに付随する権利・義務を表すようになった。