From Middle English finden, from Old English findan, from Proto-West Germanic *finþan, from Proto-Germanic *finþaną, a secondary verb from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to go, pass; path bridge”).
See also West Frisian fine, Low German finden, Dutch vinden, German finden, Danish finde, Norwegian Bokmål finne, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish finna; also English path, Old Irish étain (“I find”), áitt (“place”), Latin pōns (“bridge”), Ancient Greek πόντος (póntos, “sea”), Old Armenian հուն (hun, “ford”), Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬧𐬙𐬃 (paṇtā̊), Sanskrit पथ (pathá, “path”), Proto-Slavic *pǫtь.
For the meaning development compare Proto-Slavic *najьti > Russian найти́ (najtí), akin to Proto-Slavic *jьti > идти́ (idtí); Russian находи́ть (naxodítʹ), нахо́дка (naxódka), akin to ход (xod), ходи́ть (xodítʹ).
Meanings
Anything that is found (usually valuable), as objects on an archeological site or a person with talent.
Shepard: How did you get these things to your father?
Tali: Sometimes I left packages at secure drops in civilized areas. Someone on Pilgrimage would see that it was shipped home.
Tali: For very valuable finds, I'd signal home, and Father would send a small ship. 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Alarei:
One of the most exciting finds made by Chinese archaeologists within the last twenty years are the sites located in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning Province, particularly the Neolithic Hung-shan culture (c. 3500-2500 B.C.E.). 2001, Chün-fang Yü, “Feminine Forms of Kuan-yin in Late Imperial China”, in Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 409:
From Middle English finden, from Old English findan, from Proto-West Germanic *finþan, from Proto-Germanic *finþaną, a secondary verb from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to go, pass; path bridge”).
See also West Frisian fine, Low German finden, Dutch vinden, German finden, Danish finde, Norwegian Bokmål finne, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish finna; also English path, Old Irish étain (“I find”), áitt (“place”), Latin pōns (“bridge”), Ancient Greek πόντος (póntos, “sea”), Old Armenian հուն (hun, “ford”), Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬧𐬙𐬃 (paṇtā̊), Sanskrit पथ (pathá, “path”), Proto-Slavic *pǫtь.
For the meaning development compare Proto-Slavic *najьti > Russian найти́ (najtí), akin to Proto-Slavic *jьti > идти́ (idtí); Russian находи́ть (naxodítʹ), нахо́дка (naxódka), akin to ход (xod), ходи́ть (xodítʹ).
Meanings
(transitive) To locate. ▸ To encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.
I found this shell on the beach.
I had occasion to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return, much to my surprise, I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
She arrived home to find that the house had gone up in flames.
Among the Woods and Forests thou art found. a. 1667, Abraham Cowley, The Request:
Searching the window for a flint, I found/This paper, thus sealed up. 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
(transitive) To locate. ▸ To encounter or discover something being searched for; to locate.
It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler found evidence of them on their marine plastic, too. 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
I found my car keys. They were under the couch.
I went looking for you in the bed we share, but tonight I found you not there.
(ditransitive) To locate. ▸ To locate on behalf of another.
I found you a new place to live
(ditransitive) To discover by study or experiment directed to an object or end.
The B.C. Lottery Corporation commissioned two independent studies that found its voluntary self-exclusion program isn't always catching gamblers who've requested help in staying away. 2011 August 18, “Problem gambler crackdown coming to B.C. casinos”, in CBC News:
Water is found to be a compound substance.
The researchers found the two variables to be strongly correlated.
(transitive) To gain, as the object of desire or effort.
And in thoſe dayes ſhall men ſeke deeth / and ſhall nott fynde hyt / ſhall deſyre to deye / and deeth ſhall flye frõ them. 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Revelacion off Sanct Jhon the Devine ix:[6], folio cccxxix, verso:
to find leisure; to find means
(transitive) To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.
Looks like he found a new vehicle for himself!
(transitive) To meet with; to receive.
The proposal found little support within the government.
Among newer procedures, the Robb and Steinberg contrast visualization of cardiac chambers and venous catheterization of the right heart have found the broadest study and application. 1951 March, J. H. Lehmann, A. D. Johnson, W. C. Bridges, J. Michel, D. M. Green, “Cardiac Catheterization—A Diagnostic Aid in Congenital Heart Disease”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 170:
(transitive) To point out.
He kept finding faults with my work.
(ditransitive) To decide that, to conclude that, to form the opinion that, to consider.
I found it strange {sleeping - to sleep} in your house last night.
I find your argument unsatisfactory.
Of those respondents who detected an odor, most found it musky/urine, many others floral. 1987 October, Avery N. Gilbert and Charles J. Wysocki, “Results of the Smell Survey”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, page 516:
“ the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
The torrid zone is now found habitable. 1647, Abraham Cowley, The Request:
I find you passing gentle. c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
(transitive) To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish.
to find his title with some shows of truth 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
to find a verdict; to find a true bill (of indictment) against an accused person
(archaic, transitive) To supply; to furnish.
to find food for workmen
(archaic, transitive) To provide for
He finds his nephew in money.
They stand idle in the market-place, not because they have not been hired, but because they do not want to be hired; being able to live like the Lazzaroni of Naples, on "Midshipman's half-pay—nothing a day, and find yourself." 1871, Charles Kingsley, “Port of Spain”, in At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies. […], volume I, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 135:
the pay is good, the musterer receiving ten shillings a day, and all found, all the time he is engaged on the "run," even should he be compelled to remain idle on account of rain or mist. 1892, W. E. Swanton, Notes on New Zealand:
(intransitive) To determine or judge.
The jury finds for the defendant.
(transitive) To successfully pass to or shoot the ball into.
Van Persie scored a hat-trick against Wigan on Saturday and should have found the net again after Bendtner found him at the far post but the Dutchman's header rebounded to safety off the crossbar. 2011 January 25, Paul Fletcher, “Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (agg. 3-1)”, in BBC:
Peters finds Jinkins, who is running down the left wing.
(intransitive) To discover game.
They found at once, and there was a short sharp run, during which Linda and Tony, both in a somewhat showing-off mood, rode side by side over the stone walls. 1945, Nancy Mitford, The Pursuit of Love, Penguin, published 2010, page 57: