ござる

ご

ざ

る

Freq.FrequencyTop 500

Meanings

godan verb (-ru), intransitive verb

to be

polite (teineigo)archaicusually written using kana alone

Polite (teineigo) copula, archaic in its dictionary form; in modern Japanese almost always used as ございます.

Written forms

ござるUsage99%
Kana spelling is standard; the kanji form 御座る is rarely used.
御ご座ざるUsage1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; learners should use the kana spelling.
厶ござるUsage0%
search-only kanji form
Search-only form; not used in modern writing.

Kanji

御honorable, manipulate, govern
座squat, seat, cushion
厶I, myself, katakana mu radical (no. 28)

Similar words

ございます
Modern polite form of ござる; used as a copula, honorific verb, and auxiliary. ござる itself is archaic.
です
Standard polite copula; less formal than ございます.
いらっしゃる
Honorific verb for 'to come', 'to go', 'to be'; more common in modern speech than ござる.

Etymology

Derived from the classical honorific verb ござる, itself a contraction of 御座 (goza, 'seat') + ある (aru, 'to be'). The modern polite form ございます is the standard survival.