よし

See also: よじ

Japanese

Adverb

よし • (yoshi) 

1. 縦し: so-so; even if

Interjection

よし • (yoshi) 

1. 良し, 善し, 好し, 吉し, 佳し, 宜し: all right! OK!

Noun

よし • (yoshi) 

1. 由, 因, 縁: reason, significance
2. ヨシ, 葦, 蘆, 葭: Alternative form of あし (ashi)
3. 止し: quitting
4. 余子: any child who is not the direct heir; any other person, someone else
5. 余資, 余貲: extra capital, unused assets, remaining property
6. 余矢: in trigonometry, the coversine(the difference between one and the sine of an angle: 1 - sin(angle))

Proper noun

よし • (Yoshi) 

1. 喜: a male given name

Old Japanese

Etymology

Combination of よ (yo, phrase-ending interjectory particle marking emphasis) +‎ し (shi, phrase-ending interjectory particle marking admiration or exclamation).

Particle

よし (yoshi)

1. indicates admiration or exclamation
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 17, poem 3919:
     , text here:

     青(あを)丹(に)余之(よし)　奈(な)良(ら)能(の)美(み)夜(や)古(こ)波(は)　布里奴礼登(ふりぬれど)　毛等保登等藝須(もとほととぎす)　不鳴(なかず)安良奈久尓(あらなくに)

     青(あを)丹(に)よし　奈良(なら)の都(みやこ)は　古(ふ)りぬれど　本(もと)杜鵑(ほととぎす)　鳴(な)かず有(あ)らなくに
     awoni yosi // nara no miyako pa // purinuredo // moto pototogisu // nakazu aranaku ni

     Ah, the green-black earth // the capital of Nara // though it may be old // lo, the cuckoo birds of old // simply would not fail to sing

Usage notes

Only used at the end of phrases.