different between find vs discern

English

Etymology

From Middle English finden, from Old English findan, from Proto-West Germanic *finþan, from Proto-Germanic *finþan? (compare West Frisian fine, Low German finden, Dutch vinden, German finden, Danish finde, Norwegian Bokmål finne, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish finna), a secondary verb from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to go, pass; path bridge”), *póntoh?s (compare English path, Old Irish étain (“I find”), áitt (“place”), Latin p?ns (“bridge”), Ancient Greek ?????? (póntos, “sea”), Old Armenian ???? (hun, “ford”), Avestan ????????????????????? (pa?t??), Sanskrit ?? (pathá, “path”)).

Pronunciation

• enPR: f?nd, IPA^(key): /fa?nd/
• Rhymes: -a?nd
• Homophone: fined

Verb

find (third-person singular simple present finds, present participle finding, simple past found or (dialectal) fand, past participle found or (archaic) founden)

1. (transitive) To encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.
   • a. 1667, Abraham Cowley, The Request

     Among the Woods and Forests thou art found.

2. (transitive) To encounter or discover something being searched for; to locate.
3. (ditransitive) To discover by study or experiment direct to an object or end.

4. (transitive) To gain, as the object of desire or effort.

5. (transitive) To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.

6. (transitive) To point out.

7. (ditransitive) To decide that, to discover that, to form the opinion that.
   • 1647, Abraham Cowley, The Request

     The torrid zone is now found habitable.
8. (transitive) To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish.
9. (transitive, archaic) To supply; to furnish.

10. (transitive, archaic) To provide for
    • 1871, Charles Kingsley, At Last: a Christmas in the West Indies

      Nothing a day and find yourself.

    • 1892, W. E. Swanton, Notes on New Zealand

      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.

11. (intransitive, law) To determine or judge.

12. (intransitive, hunting) To discover game.
    • 1945, Nancy Mitford, The Pursuit of Love, Penguin 2010, page 57:

      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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:deem

Antonyms

• lose

Derived terms

• befind
• findable
• finder
• hard-to-find
• viewfinder
• unfindable

Related terms

See also finding and found

Translations

Noun

find (plural finds)

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

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

• (anything found): discovery, catch

Translations

Further reading

• find in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• find in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• NFID

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fend/, [fen?]
• Rhymes: -end

Verb

find

1. imperative of finde

Middle English

Noun

find (plural findes)

1. Alternative form of feend

English

Etymology

From Middle English discernen, from Old French discerner, from Latin discernere (“to separate, divide, distinguish, discern”), from dis- (“apart”) + cernere (“to separate”); see certain.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??(?)n

(modern pronunciation)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??s??n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d??s?n/

(older pronunciation)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??z??n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d??z?n/

Verb

discern (third-person singular simple present discerns, present participle discerning, simple past and past participle discerned)

1. (transitive) To detect with the senses, especially with the eyes.
2. (transitive) To perceive, recognize, or comprehend with the mind; to descry.
3. (transitive) To distinguish something as being different from something else; to differentiate.

4. (intransitive) To perceive differences.

Synonyms

• (detect with the senses): See also Thesaurus:perceive
  • (especially with the eyes): behold, see; see also Thesaurus:see
• (perceive, recognize, or comprehend with the mind): ken, spy; see also Thesaurus:spot
• (distinguish something as being different): discriminate, distinguish; see also Thesaurus:tell apart

Derived terms

• discernible
• discernment
• indiscernible

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Cinders, cinders, rescind