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
「光陰矢の如し」の「如し」は、古い文語の助動詞で、「ごとし」と読む。
The 如し in 光陰矢の如し is an old literary auxiliary verb, read as ごとし.
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.
古典では、「夢の如し」のように文末で「如し」が使われることがある。
In classical texts, 如し is sometimes used at the end of a sentence, as in 夢の如し.
Colloquial modern auxiliary for 'like', more casual than ようだ. ごと is the archaic counterpart.
The historical derivation is uncertain; it is an archaic auxiliary verb used in classical Japanese.