交える
まじえる · majieru · JLPT N1 · verb-ichidan
to mix
⚔️ 交 = crossed legs: blades cross in a duel, words cross back and forth in a chat
The kanji 交 originally showed a person with crossed legs, so 交える means things crossing each other: swords clash, or talk goes back and forth between people.
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.