ござる

Etymology
Shift from, composed of.

According to Kōjien, the above is derived from the Sino-Japanese reading of (the in the  spelling of)  +  (the classical form of ).

Verb

 * 1)  to exist, to be, to have

Usage notes

 * In classical Japanese, was the polite form of  applicable to both animate and inanimate objects. It survives in modern Japanese only in the inflected forms, , , and , which may originate from a contraction of .  is a politeness prefix,  is the equivalent of  in Sino-Japanese, and finally  is a suffix for verbs. Another opinion is that it is a contraction of , composed of  and.
 * In modern popular culture, it is associated with ninja.