交ざる
まざる · mazaru · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to mingle with
🥗 交 = crossed legs: things cross into a group but stay distinct
The kanji 交 started as a person with crossed legs, so it means crossing or mingling. Use 交ざる when the mixed items can still be told apart, like a salad or grey hairs among black ones. When things blend fully, the word is 混ざる. Hook: mazaru, a maze of mixed parts.
交 — top 亠 + 父-like crossed legs
Originally a pictograph of a person standing with legs crossed, showing the idea of crossing or intersecting. From this concrete image, the meaning extended to abstract senses like 'exchange,' 'interact,' and 'hand over.' Modern uses such as 交流 (exchange) and 交通 (traffic) all trace back to this core notion of crossing.