もがな

particle

I wish; if only; would that

Archaic sentence-ending particle expressing a wish or hope. Attaches to nouns, adjectives, or verbs in classical Japanese. In modern Japanese, it appears mainly in literary or poetic contexts, or in set phrases like 言わずもがな.

• 「言いわずもがな」は、言いわないほうがよいという意い味みの慣かん用よう句くです。

  The phrase 言わずもがな is an idiom meaning 'it is better left unsaid'.

• 古こ典てんでは「花はなもがな」のように願がん望ぼうを表あらわす。

  In classical texts, もがな expresses a wish, as in 花もがな ('I wish there were flowers').