Dictionary

befind en · VERB

Etymology

From Middle English befinden, bifinden, equivalent to be- + find. Cognate with Saterland Frisian befiende (“to be located, befind”), Dutch bevinden (“to find”), German befinden (“to be, be located”), Swedish befinna (“to find, be”).

Meanings

1. (archaic, transitive) To find; discover.
   • Farther in the height befinds itself […] 1966, Johann Melchior Dinglinger, Joachim Menzhausen, At the court of the Great Mogul, page 52:
   • Until after a full celestial epoch, the fairest place was befound and it was bequest them. 2009, A. J. Marshall, The Bastion Prosecutor: Episode 3:
   • It is well that the thinker should give his thoughts to the world, though it must be admitted that wisdom befinds itself sometimes in the reverse of the sage's pronouncement. 1898, Maurice Maeterlinck, Wisdom and Destiny, page 4:
2. (obsolete, transitive) To invent; contrive.
3. (obsolete, qualifier:passive voice) To be found; be.

Forms