discovery

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.

The first records of the word discovery come from the 1500s. It ultimately derives from the Late Latin discooperīre, meaning “to disclose” or “to expose.” The suffix -y is used to form abstract nouns from verbs (it’s used in the same way to form the noun recovery from the verb recover).

When a discovery is made, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the thing found had been covered or hidden. Though its use can sometimes overlap with discover, the word uncover typically means something different—“to expose” or “to reveal.” To discover a conspiracy is to find out that it exists, but to uncover it is to reveal it.

Discovery involves seeing, learning of, or encountering something for the first time. History books are filled with examples of people credited with the discovery of a new place even though it was already inhabited, or of people credited with having made some kind of scientific or technological discovery when in fact it was known about for a long time by someone else or by people in another part of the world. In cases like this, the so-called discoverer didn’t really discover the thing so much as they found it again.

What are some other forms related to discovery? 

• discover (verb)
• rediscovery (noun)

What are some synonyms for discovery?

• find (when find is used as a noun)

What are some words that share a root or word element with discovery? 

• undiscovered
• cover
• uncover
• recovery

What are some words that often get used in discussing discovery?

• explore
• new
• place
• land
• country
• hidden
• knowledge
• secret
• unknown

The word discovery is especially used in the context of exploration and scientific breakthroughs.

Two teenagers in Israel found a jar full of 425 gold coins stashed in the desert more than 1,100 years ago.The discovery could help archaeologists better understand the history of the region. https://t.co/QQnjTCHf6d

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 24, 2020

We've discovered more than 4,200 planets beyond our solar system – exoplanets – so far. Every discovery begins with a question and a team working to answer it. This week we'll introduce you to some of the people behind our science. pic.twitter.com/SGiOAKt8iY

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) August 24, 2020

A discovery made by a geology professor turned out to be a bigger deal than he could have imagined: what he stumbled upon were the oldest vertebrate fossil tracks ever found at Grand Canyon National Park — about 313 million years old. https://t.co/nZxqrZz4so

— CNN (@CNN) August 22, 2020

Which of the following things could be considered a discovery?

A. a newly found species
B. a newly observed planet
C. a newly developed cure
D. all of the above