[go: up one dir, main page]
Advertisement

Origin and history of find

find(v.)

Old English findan "come upon, meet with; discover; obtain by search or study" (class III strong verb; past tense fand, past participle funden), from Proto-Germanic *findan "to come upon, discover" (source also of Old Saxon findan, Old Frisian finda, Old Norse finna, Middle Dutch vinden, Old High German findan, German finden, Gothic finþan), originally "to come upon."

According to Watkins the Germanic word is from PIE root *pent- "to tread, go" (source also of Old High German fendeo "pedestrian;" Sanskrit panthah "path, way;" Avestan panta "way;" Greek pontos "open sea," patein "to tread, walk;" Latin pons (genitive pontis) "bridge;" Old Church Slavonic pǫti "path," pęta "heel;" Russian put' "path, way;" Armenian hun "ford," Old Prussian pintis "road"). The prehistoric sense development in Germanic would be from "to go" to "to find (out)," but Boutkan has serious doubts about this.

Germanic *-th- in English tends to become -d- after -n-. The change in the Germanic initial consonant is from Grimm's Law. To find out "to discover by scrutiny" is from 1550s (Middle English had a verb, outfinden, "to find out," c. 1300).

find(n.)

"person or thing discovered, discovery of something valuable," 1825, from find (v.).

also from 1825

Entries linking to find

fact-finding(adj.)

1909, from fact + present participle of find (v.). Related: Fact-finder.

fault-finding(n.)

1620s, from verbal phrase find fault (with) (late 14c.); see fault (n.) + find (v.). Related: Fault-finder (1560s).

Advertisement

More to explore

finding
c. 1300, "act of discovering" (by chance or after searching; also an instance of this); verbal noun from find (v.). From c. 1400 as "what the mind discovers; knowledge attained by human effort" (as distinct from revelation or authority). Late 14c. as "act of sustaining, supportin
found
"lay the basis of, establish," late 13c., from Old French fonder "found, establish; set, place; fashion, make" (12c.), from Latin fundare "to lay the bottom or foundation" of something, from fundus "bottom, foundation" (see fund (n.)). Related: Founded; founding. Phrase founding
pad
1550s, "bundle of straw to lie on," a word of obscure origin (perhaps a merger of several separate words), possibly from or related to Low German or obsolete Flemish pad "sole of the foot," which is perhaps from PIE *pent- "to tread, go" (see find (v.)), but see path (n.). Sense
retrieve
early 15c., retreven, "find or discover again," originally in reference to dogs finding lost game, from retruev-, stem of...Old French retreuver (Modern French retrouver) "find again, recover, meet again, recognize," from re- "again" (see re-)...+ trouver "to find," probably from Vulgar Latin *tropare "to compose," from Greek tropos "a turn, way, manner" (from PIE...Specifically, of a dog, "to find and bring to hand game wounded or killed by a sportsman" is by 1856....
detect
Sense of "to find out the secret action or character of" is from 1580s....Meaning "discover, find out, ascertain" is from 1756. Related: Detected; detecting....
inventor
inventore) "contriver, author, discoverer, proposer, founder," agent noun from past-participle stem of invenire "to come upon, find...; find out; invent, discover, devise; ascertain; acquire, get earn," from in- "in, on" (from PIE root *en "in") + venire...
Octavian
But although we find so marked differences in the use of the numerals as names, it is impossible to believe that this use...But when we find them as praenomina in historical times it is evident that they no longer referred to order of birth....
attain
c. 1300, "succeed in reaching, come so near as to touch," from ataign-, stem of Old French ataindre "to come up to, reach, attain, endeavor, strive" (11c., Modern French atteindre), from Vulgar Latin *attangere, corresponding to Latin attingere "to touch; arrive at," from ad "to"
change
c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),
determination
mid-14c., determinacioun, "decision, sentence in a suit at law, definite or authoritative judicial settlement," from Old French déterminacion "determination, settlement, definition" (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin determinationem (nominative determinatio) "conclusion, bou

Share find

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near find
Advertisement