discovery

American  

[dih-skuhv-uh-ree] / dɪˈskʌv ə ri /

noun

• discoveries
  plural

1. the act or process of seeing, finding, or gaining knowledge of something previously unknown, or an instance of this.

   The university is dedicated to the discovery, development, communication, and application of knowledge in a wide range of academic and professional fields.

   Shortly after the discovery of the tomb, many people associated with the expedition died.

2. something found, found out, noticed, or realized.

   In 2009, archaeologists in Rome unearthed a startling discovery: the remains of an elaborate banquet hall built during the reign of Nero.

3. Law. the compulsory exchange or disclosure of information, evidence, documents, etc., in preparation for a lawsuit or trial.

   The plaintiff filed a motion to compel discovery, but the defendants argued that some of the information was exempt.

4. U.S. Aerospace. none Discovery the third space shuttle to orbit and return to earth.

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discovery British  

/ dɪˈskʌvərɪ /

noun

1. the act, process, or an instance of discovering

2. a person, place, or thing that has been discovered

3. law the compulsory disclosure by a party to an action of relevant documents in his possession

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Usage

What does discovery mean? A discovery is something that has been discovered—found or found out about for the first time. Discovery can also mean the process of discovering. Discoveries involve finding or gaining knowledge about something that was previously unknown or unseen. The word is especially associated with finding new places (as in the discovery of new lands) and scientific breakthroughs (as in the discovery of a cure). The word discovery is also used in a much more specific way in the context of law, in which it refers to the required disclosure of things like documents to the other party during a legal proceeding, as in These invoices were produced by client during discovery. Example: Ancient Oceanic peoples discovered new methods of seafaring that allowed their discovery and settlement of faraway islands.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondiscovery
  noun
• prediscovery
  noun
• rediscovery
  noun
• self-discovery
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• discoveries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of discovery

First recorded in 1545–55; discover + -y ³

Explanation

The noun discovery means the finding or uncovering of something. The discovery of a body is usually an important plot point in a mystery novel. The process of finding, realizing, or unearthing something is discovery, like your discovery of a live lizard in the birthday box your aunt mailed from Arizona. The lizard is also a discovery — the thing that is found. In law, discovery means the obligation to reveal any relevant documents to the opposing party in a legal case. The Latin root, discooperire, basically translates as "the opposite of covering something up."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

discovery discoveries

The discovery points to a previously unrecognized pathway through which carbon stored by microbes can move into animal food webs.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

That makes the discovery of a previously unknown small amphibian such as S. labreae especially remarkable.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

“They still have that bit of allure of discovery and sense of adventure, which is hard to find in this digital age when everything is available online,” she said of drugstores abroad.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

His wife, Judy Gittelsohn, 68, was sitting inside their San Francisco home in Russian Hill working when she noticed her husband’s discovery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

The discovery of the historic document led to further research in Europe, Brazil, and Mozambique in search of facts about the São José and its ill-fated voyage.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

More often, the resulting discoveries will sit somewhere in between those two emotional polarities.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

This has led to unusual discoveries on the river bed, including the bones of a mammoth in Bulgaria and a sunken WW2 warship in Serbia.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

German police have searched the area near the site of impact for remnants of that object or any other clues, but so far without reporting any discoveries.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

In other words, science evolves, and it does so because theories that fail to develop, or that are unable to adapt in the face of new discoveries, are eliminated.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• analysis
• detection
• diagnosis
• disclosure
• encounter
• exploration
• introduction
• revelation
• sighting