discover English · revision 5584

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1325, Cursor Mundi|origins=la cooperīre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /dɪˈskʌv.ə/, US /dɪˈskʌv.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|discoveren]], [[bor|fro|descovrir|t=to uncover, unveil, reveal]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-lat|discooperīre]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|dis-|t=opposite of]] and [[m|la|cooperīre|t=to cover completely]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) See [[cover]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To reveal or disclose: before 1325, in Cursor Mundi, in Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) At first it often meant to betray someone's secrets, and a ''discoverer'' was an informer.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English it also meant literally to uncover, as to take off one's hat or the roof of a building,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a sense Trench notes in the Bible: “The voice of the Lord discovereth the forests”.^(Trench 1859) To reconnoitre is from 1375, now obsolete.^(OED 1989) To find out something unknown, the main modern sense, is from the 1550s,^(Etymonline) the 16th century in Hoad.^(Hoad 1986) ''Discovery'' is from 1553, in Hakluyt's Voyages.^(Barnhart 1988) To make a person famous, as in discovering a new singer, is from 1908.^(Etymonline) In chess, ''discover check'' is from 1614.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – to reveal.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1382 – to uncover.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1550s – to find out.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1553 – ''discovery''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1908 – to make famous.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To find something or someone, especially for the first time.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To find out or [[realize]] something: ''she discovered that he had lied''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To be the first to find or learn about something: ''Fleming discovered penicillin''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To find a talented person and make them known.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To reveal or [[disclose]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[discoverable]]

+ * [[discoverer]]

+ * [[discoverably]]

+ * [[prediscover]]

+ * [[rediscover]]

+ * [[discovered check]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[discovery]]

+ * [[cover]]

+ * [[recover]]

+ * [[uncover]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Discover is used for finding what already exists, invent for making what did not exist before, as the Century Dictionary notes.^(Etymonline) Discover, ascertain, determine and learn all mean to gain knowledge of something not known before.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}