auxiliary verb
Archaic auxiliary meaning 'like' or 'similar to', used after が, の, or the attributive form of a verb. Not used in modern Japanese; replaced by ようだ or みたいだ.
See also: 如し
auxiliary verb, copula
is like; is similar to
Archaic sentence-ending form of ごとし, functioning as a copula-like auxiliary. Found in classical Japanese texts; not used in modern speech.
The 如し in 光陰矢の如し is an old literary auxiliary verb, read as ごとし.
In classical texts, 如し is sometimes used at the end of a sentence, as in 夢の如し.
Standard kana spelling for this archaic auxiliary.
The historical derivation is uncertain; it is an archaic auxiliary verb used in classical Japanese.