adverb
Dated adverb meaning 'finally' or 'at last', similar to ようやく. Used in older or literary Japanese.
See also: ようやく
長い冬が終わり、ようよう春が訪れた。
The long winter ended, and spring finally arrived.
adverb
Dated adverb meaning 'barely' or 'only just', often used when something is achieved with difficulty. Equivalent to ようやく.
See also: ようやく
ようよう終電に間に合った。
I barely caught the last train.
adverb
Dated adverb meaning 'gradually' or 'little by little'. In modern Japanese, だんだん or 徐々に are more common.
See also: ようやく
空がようよう明るくなってきた。
The sky gradually grew brighter.
ようやく is the modern, common equivalent for all senses of ようよう. ようよう is dated and mostly replaced by ようやく in contemporary Japanese.
だんだん is the standard modern adverb for 'gradually', while ようよう in this sense is archaic.
徐々に is a slightly more formal modern equivalent for 'gradually', whereas ようよう is dated.
Derived from reduplication of よう (様), with the sense of 'in the manner of' evolving into adverbial meanings of gradual change or eventual outcome. The exact historical development is uncertain.