expression
Polite abbreviation of 御座います; also a colloquial form of 御座います. Used as a polite copula or existential verb, similar to です or あります but with a somewhat old-fashioned or stylized feel.
See also: 御座ります
これは確かにござんす。
This certainly is.
お手紙はここにござんす。
The letter is here.
expression
to come; to go; to be (somewhere)
Archaic honorific abbreviation of 御座います, used for movement or location of a respected person. Rare in modern Japanese, mostly encountered in historical or period speech.
殿はもうすぐこちらへござんす。
The lord will come here soon.
お客様は奥にござんす。
The guest is in the back.
Contracted from 御座います (gozaimasu). The exact derivation is uncertain, but it likely arose as a colloquial abbreviation.