席
せき · seki · JLPT N4 · noun
seat
💺 seki sounds like seat-key: the key that reserves your seat
席 originally meant a woven mat laid out for sitting, which is why it carries 巾 (cloth) under a roof-like frame. From a mat for one person it came to mean an assigned seat or place, as in 席を外す (to leave one's seat) and 出席 (attendance).
席 — 广 (shelter) + 巾 (cloth), over woven mat 苫
Originally a pictograph of a woven mat or rush mat used for sitting on the floor, with 巾 (cloth) hinting at the woven material under a shelter 广. Because guests were seated on such mats, 席 extended to mean 'seat,' 'place at a banquet,' and later any 'seat' or 'membership' in a group.