heavy, important, esteem, respect, heap up, pile up, nest of boxes, -fold
重 centers on the idea of weight and significance: something physically heavy, metaphorically important, or accumulated in layers. The senses of heaping up, piling, and folding grow naturally from the image of stacked weight, while esteem and respect are social extensions of treating something as weighty.
important; essential; significant; major; key; principal
heavy; weighty
(body) weight
precious; valuable
regarding as important; attaching importance to; taking a serious view of; putting emphasis on
weight
careful; cautious; prudent; discreet; deliberate
serious; important; significant; grave; weighty
respect; esteem; regard
gravity; gravitation; gravitational pull
to be piled up; to lie on top of one another
duplication; repetition; overlapping; redundancy; restoration
to pile up; to heap up; to stack up; to put on top of another
pile; accumulation
serious illness
multiple; multiplex
strict; severe; stringent; rigorous; rigid; firm; strong; secure
convenient; useful; handy; helpful
severe (illness, disability, etc.); serious
important point; emphasis; stress; importance; priority
weight
serious wound; serious injury
heavy; weighty
centre of gravity (center)
重 originally depicted a person carrying a heavy load, with the early form showing a figure bent under weight. Over time it simplified to the modern stacked structure, which still suggests layers and heaviness.
The character looks like stacked layers: the top ノ and 一 over 日 over 里, like heavy boxes piled up. That weight makes it important and respected.
For ジュウ, imagine a heavy jewel (ジュウ) pressing down on a pile of boxes: jewel -> ジュウ, and its weight makes the stack important.