Yes，the appearance of 互（hu, the forth tone) is strange even for native Chinese，let alone for foreigners！Now, let‘s imagine that 互 is composed of two hooks connecting together.  That looks like ’hand in hand‘.  In China we often say the following phrases:

互助（hu-zhu）：to help each other;

互敬互爱（hu-jing-hu-ai）：To respect and love each other.

互相（hu-xiang）：each other.   (please have a look at my latest thread for more explaining about the word 相.)