接 is a hand 扌 reaching with 妾 as the sound: contact made. To receive, to catch, to connect — every sense is two things touching.
接 connects daily life: 接电话 (answer the phone), 接孩子 (pick up the kids — the school-gate ritual), 接人 (meet someone at the station/airport — hospitality demands you 接 arriving guests in person). 接受 is to accept; 直接 is direct. In relay races and group chats alike, 接 is the baton passing hands.
A hand 扌 reaching out to meet — RECEIVE, CONNECT, PICK UP.
Meeting arrivals in person (接机, 'receive at the airport') is near-mandatory Chinese hospitality — no 'just take a taxi'.