光こう陰いん

noun

time; the passage of time

Literary and somewhat old-fashioned; often used in set phrases like 光陰矢の如し (time flies like an arrow). The personification 'Father Time' is a possible translation in poetic contexts.

• 光こう陰いん矢やの如ごとしと言いうが、本ほん当とうに一いち年ねんはあっという間まだ。

  They say time flies like an arrow, and a year really does pass in the blink of an eye.

• 光こう陰いんは人ひとを待またず、気きがつけばもう秋あきだ。

  Time waits for no one; before I knew it, it's already autumn.