Can もはや also mean "or rather" or "actually"?


I heard this sentence pattern watching an anime (where A and B have similar
meanings, but B is much stronger):

> ．．．．[description A] いや、もはや [description B]と言っていい。

I looked up `もはや` expecting a definition like "rather", as in "it was [A], or
rather, it was [B]". Instead I found "already, now", as in "He is no longer a
child" `もはや子供ではない。`

I looked around and that's the only definition I've found...however, I did see
that on
[goo](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/srch/all/%E3%82%82%E3%81%AF%E3%82%84/m0u/)
it did say `まさに` was a word for it, which means "exactly". I'm guessing that
would make this mean "[A], or more exactly [B]". Can someone confirm this?
This wasn't a secondary entry in the definition, just a line in the first,
"already" definition, but it seems to me a very different usage. Can someone
clarify this for me?




As ジョン says, the similarities are very strong between もはや and もう.

The meaning is that something has now reached a certain state, leaving its
past state behind. This can imply that the change is irreversible.

彼はもはや犯罪者だ。 He's a criminal now. (he's now reached that point, and there is no
turning back from it.)

彼はもう社長です。 He's a company president now. (cast away any thoughts you might have
had of him as a lower-paid employee -- that is no longer true)

もはやXと言っていい means that it is, **by now** , OK to call it X (probably: there's
now enough evidence/reason to support the statement), and this is the new
irreversible state -- we're casting off the old state of not calling it X.

This corresponds to 大辞泉's second sense of もはや:

> ２ ある事態が **変えられないところ** まで進んでいるさま。今となっては。もう。「―如何ともしがたい」「―これまで」

I don't see any context/reason to interpret it as "actually" or "or rather".




As ジョン says, the similarities are very strong between もはや and もう.

The meaning is that something has now reached a certain state, leaving its
past state behind. This can imply that the change is irreversible.

彼はもはや犯罪者だ。 He's a criminal now. (he's now reached that point, and there is no
turning back from it.)

彼はもう社長です。 He's a company president now. (cast away any thoughts you might have
had of him as a lower-paid employee -- that is no longer true)

もはやXと言っていい means that it is, **by now** , OK to call it X (probably: there's
now enough evidence/reason to support the statement), and this is the new
irreversible state -- we're casting off the old state of not calling it X.

This corresponds to 大辞泉's second sense of もはや:

> ２ ある事態が **変えられないところ** まで進んでいるさま。今となっては。もう。「―如何ともしがたい」「―これまで」

I don't see any context/reason to interpret it as "actually" or "or rather".

