English Explanatory Dictionary

find

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To locate
To encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.
To encounter or discover something being searched for; to locate.
To locate on behalf of another.
To discover by study or experiment directed to an object or end.
To gain, as the object of desire or effort.
To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.
To meet with; to receive.
To point out.
To decide that, to conclude that, to form the opinion that, to consider.
To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish.
To supply; to furnish.

noun

Anything that is found (usually valuable), as objects on an archeological site or a person with talent.
The act of finding.

Pronunciation

/ˈfaɪ̯nd/ en-us-find.ogg En-uk-to find.ogg /ˈfa̝ːn(d)/ /ˈfɪnd/ /ˈfʌɪ̯nd/ [fəi̯nd] /ˈfəɪ̯n/ /ˈfɑ̟ɪ̯nd/ /ˈfaːnd/

Word forms

find finds finding found fand founden no-table-tags glossary findest foundest findeth

Etymology

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).

Synonyms

come upon encounter happen across run across catch check detect determine discover disinter find fish up identify learn locate map navigate pick up pinpoint place position recognize search spot trace track uncover unearth explore localize gain get obtain achieve acquire attain collect earn gather procure score win consider hold look upon account appraise count esteem see censure deem dub interpret judge regard as respect think of view as decide

Antonyms

lose miss forlese leave behind

Derived words

barn find befind come to find out even a blind pig can find an acorn even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while faultfind fault-find findability findable find a friendly bush find a new gear find another gear find as you type finder find fault findfault find favour find forth find God find in find it in oneself find it in one's heart findless find no bones in find one's account find one's ass with both hands and a flashlight find oneself find one's feet find one's legs find one's place find one's tongue find one's voice find one's way find out find out the hard way find religion findspot find the gap find the gaps find the lady find the latchstring out find the net find time find wanting find work find your height fork found in kitchen fuck around and find out gold is where you find it hard-to-find I can't find my ... it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog look as if one had lost a shilling and found sixpence look as if one has lost a shilling and found sixpence newfind outfind pathfind please find attached refind

Translations

Arabic: وَجَدَ Armenian: գտնել Bulgarian: убежда́вам се Czech: pokládat za Danish: finde Dutch: vinden Dutch: van mening zijn dat Egyptian: gm-m Finnish: pitää French: trouver Galician: coidar Hebrew: מצא Italian: trovare Latin: decernere Macedonian: наоѓа Norwegian Bokmål: finne Norwegian Nynorsk: finna Norwegian Nynorsk: finne Portuguese: achar Russian: находи́ть Russian: найти́ Slovak: považovať Spanish: creer Spanish: encontrar Spanish: hallar Swedish: finna Swedish: konstatera Tagalog: nahanap Turkish: bulmak

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

Back to search All on F Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary