findan

Forms

findan (strong class 3; third-person singular present fint, past singular fand, past plural fundon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *finþan, from Proto-Germanic *finþaną (“to find, come upon”).^[1] The strong verb is found in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (finþan, “to come to know”), Old Norse finna, Old Frisian finda, Old Saxon findan and Old High German findan.^[2][3]

Holthausen and Köbler derive it from the root Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to tread, go”), the source of Latin pōns (“bridge”) and Ancient Greek πόντος (póntos, “sea”);^[3][4][5] “to find” would then have grown out of “to come upon”.^[3][4][5] Köbler marks the Germanic sense “to go” with a query and also names the root Proto-Indo-European *pet- (“to fall, fly”).^[2] Holthausen relates fandian (“to try”), fundian (“to strive, set out”) and fūs (“ready, eager”) to the same root.^[3]

It belongs to the third class of strong verbs.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is the Pastoral Care in the Hatton manuscript (890×897), which quotes the Lord on those who seek him too late: On uhtan hie arisað, & me seceað, ac hi me ne findað “At dawn they rise and seek me, but they shall not find me”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller divide the senses into finding by chance or in the course of events (coming upon a person or thing, meeting with favour or hardship, finding something to be so on inspection) and finding by search or effort (obtaining, procuring, reaching a place, discovering by study, devising a plan, determining a rule); a third sense is to supply or provide.^[10] In the glosses it renders Latin “invenire” and “reperire”, and also “decernere” and “disponere”.^[4] In the laws it is used of finding stray property and of decreeing: fundon þas domas “drew up these decrees”.^[11] In Beowulf it also means “to devise”, and findan æt “to obtain from, prevail upon”.^[6]

The verb lived on as Middle English fynden, now English find.^[5]

Timeline

• 890×897 – ac hi me ne findað in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[8][9]
• s. ix/x – hæfde funden “had arranged” in the Parker Chronicle, annal 918.^[12][9]
• s. x/xi – findan in the sense “to devise” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[13][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. to find, come upon by chance; to meet with.^[10][4]
2. to find by search; to obtain, procure.^[10]
3. to find out, discover by study; to devise, arrange, decide.^[14][6]
4. (law) to decree, determine.^[11][10]
5. to provide, supply.^[10]

Word family

• āfindan
• ġefindan
• onfindan

Descendants

• Middle English fynden (→ English find)^[1]

Related words

• fandian
• fundian
• fūs

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. finþan
3. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 105
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. findan
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. findan
7. ^ Campbell, A. (1959), Old English Grammar, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. § 741
8. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
9. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
10. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 218
11. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 71
12. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 83
13. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
14. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 287