集まる
あつまる · atsumaru · JLPT N4 · verb-godan
to gather
🧲 At-su-maru: AT Sue's, MARU (circle) — everyone gathers in a circle at Sue's
集 was originally birds (隹) on a tree (木): a flock settling together on one branch. The まる ending marks it as intransitive, things gather by themselves, versus 集める (atsumeru), where someone collects them.
集 — bird 隹 on top of tree 木
集 is an ideograph showing a bird (隹) perched on a tree (木). The original form depicted three birds gathering on a tree, later simplified to one. From 'birds flocking together' it extended to mean 'gather, collect, assemble,' and by extension 'collection' or 'volume' of writings.