存じる
zonjiru
The word that folds your own knowing small before handing it over
The picture What you know folded down small and offered low in front of the other person, while their knowledge stays sitting up on top of their head. 存じる folds your own knowing small; ご存じ sets their knowing up above their head.
Where the picture shows up in 存じる
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knowledge folded and held
その件は存じております。
sono ken wa zonjite orimasu
Yes, I'm aware of that matter.
A single sheet of what you know folded small and held low against your chest.
One notch under 知っています; 存じております is lowered twice.
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the empty palm shown
申し訳ありません、存じませんでした。
mōshiwake arimasen, zonjimasen deshita
I'm very sorry — I wasn't aware.
An empty palm turned up and shown, with a bow of the head.
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the name placed one level up
お名前は以前から存じ上げておりました。
o-namae wa izen kara zonjiagete orimashita
I've known your name for a long time.
Their name tag set one level higher while you bend your knees to look up at it.
存じ上げる is for knowing a person, never a thing.
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knowledge above their head
ご存じかと思いますが、来週から新しい規則です。
go-zonji ka to omoimasu ga, raishū kara atarashii kisoku desu
As you may already know, the new rules start next week.
An open palm pointing at the knowledge already resting above the other person's head.
ご存じ belongs to the listener — never use it for your own knowledge.
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an opinion on a small dish
私も同じように存じます。
watashi mo onaji yō ni zonjimasu
I think the same way.
Your own thought laid on a small dish and nudged gently toward them.
One notch under 思います, for formal settings.
All of it in one picture
存じる leaves the meanings of 知る and 思う alone and shrinks only the size of the knowledge. Knowing something, you hold the folded sheet low at your chest; not knowing it, you show an empty palm. Saying you know a person, you put their name one level up and bend your own knees to look at it — and when you speak of what they know, ご存じ sets it above their head instead. The last use puts even your opinion on a small dish and slides it across.