discovery

English

Alternative forms

• discoverie (obsolete)

Etymology

from discover +‎ -ery, on the pattern of the pair recover, recovery. Displaced native Old English onfundennes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkʌ.və.ɹi/, /-ˈkʌv.ɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌvəɹi
• Hyphenation: dis‧cov‧ery

Noun

discovery (countable and uncountable, plural discoveries)

1. Something discovered.

   This latest discovery should eventually lead to much better treatments for disease.

2. (uncountable) The discovering of new things.

   The purpose of the voyage was discovery.

   Automatic discovery of RSS feeds by a Web browser.

   • 1589, Richard Hakluyt, “Iohn Cabots Patent”, in The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC, page 509:

     The letters patents of king Henry the ſeuenth granted vnto Iohn Cabot and his three ſonnes, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, for the discouerie of new and vnknowen lands.

3. (countable, archaic) An act of uncovering or revealing something; a revelation.
   • 1822, Alain René Le Sage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane:

     Don Huberto actually fell in love with his kinswoman, and had presumption enough to declare his passion […] The lady being a woman of discretion, instead of making a discovery, which might have been attended with melancholy consequences, reprimanded her relation with gentleness […]

4. (law, uncountable) A pre-trial phase in which evidence is gathered.

   The prosecution moved to suppress certain items turned up during discovery.

5. (law, uncountable) Materials revealed to the opposing party during the pre-trial phase in which evidence is gathered.

   The defense argued that the plaintiff's discovery was inadequate.

6. (chess) A discovered attack.
   • 1999, Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions Into Chess Mastery, 2nd edition, Los Angeles, C.A.: Siles Press, →ISBN, page 189:

     1700: "If I play f4, he can check me with ...Qd4, but then he has to move his Queen because he can easily lose it to a Bishop discovery on b5. He could also check me on c5 when his Queen might be safer. I could just move out of the way, though, and continue my attack."

Derived terms

• autodiscovery
• biodiscovery
• codiscovery
• discovery informatics
• discovery request
• e-discovery
• indiscovery
• nondiscovery
• prediscovery
• rediscovery
• self-discovery
• undiscovery

Related terms

• discover
• discoverer

Translations

something discovered

• Albanian: zbulim (sq) m
• Arabic: اِكْتِشَاف (ar) m (iktišāf)
• Armenian: հայտնագործություն (hy) (haytnagorcutʻyun)
• Asturian: descubrimientu m
• Azerbaijani: kəşf (az)
• Belarusian: адкры́цце n (adkrýccje), адкры́цьце n (adkrýcʹcje) (Taraškievica), адкрыццё n (adkryccjó), адкрыцьцё n (adkrycʹcjó) (Taraškievica)
• Bengali: আবিষ্কার (bn) (abiśkar)
• Bulgarian: откри́тие (bg) n (otkrítie)
• Catalan: descobriment (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 發現 / 发现 (faat³ jin⁶)

  Mandarin: 發現 / 发现 (zh) (fāxiàn)

• Czech: objev (cs) m
• Danish: opdagelse c
• Dutch: ontdekking (nl) f, vinding (nl) f
• Esperanto: malkovro
• Estonian: avastus
• Finnish: löytö (fi), löydös (fi)
• French: découverte (fr) f
• Galician: descubrimento (gl) m
• Georgian: აღმოჩენა (aɣmočena)
• German: Entdeckung (de) f
• Greek: ανακάλυψη (el) f (anakálypsi)

  Ancient: εὕρημα n (heúrēma)

• Haitian Creole: dekouvèt
• Hebrew: תַּגְלִית f (taglít)
• Hindi: खोज (hi) f (khoj), आविष्कार (hi) m (āviṣkār)
• Hungarian: felfedezés (hu)
• Icelandic: uppgötvun f
• Indonesian: penemuan (id)
• Interlingua: discoperta
• Irish: fionnachtain f
• Italian: scoperta (it) f, scoprimento m
• Japanese: 発見 (ja) (はっけん, hakken)
• Kazakh: ашу (aşu)
• Korean: 발견(發見) (ko) (balgyeon)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: keşf (ku)

• Kyrgyz: ачуу (ky) (acuu), ачылыш (ky) (acılış)
• Lao: ການຄົ້ນພົບ (kān khon phop)
• Latin: inventio (la) f, repertum n
• Latvian: atklāšana f, atklājums m
• Lithuanian: atradimas m, atskleidimas m
• Macedonian: откри́тие n (otkrítie)
• Malay: penemuan
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: нээлт (mn) (neelt)

  Mongolian: ᠨᠡᠭᠡᠭᠡᠯᠲᠡ (negegelte)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: oppdagelse m

• Occitan: descobèrta (oc) f
• Old English: onfundennes f
• Ottoman Turkish: كشف (keşf, keşif)
• Pashto: کشف m (kašf), کشفونه f (kašfawǝna)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: کَشْف (fa) (kašf), اِکْتِشاف (fa) (ektešâf), یافْتِه (fa) (yâfte)

• Polish: odkrycie (pl) n
• Portuguese: descoberta (pt) f
• Romanian: descoperire (ro) f
• Russian: откры́тие (ru) n (otkrýtije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: откри́ће n

  Roman: otkríće n

• Slovak: objav m
• Slovene: odkritje (sl) n
• Spanish: descubrimiento (es) m, hallazgo (es) m
• Swedish: upptäckt (sv) c, fynd (sv) n
• Tajik: кашф (kašf), ихтироъ (ixtiroʾ), кашфиёт (kašfiyot), иктишоф (iktišof)
• Thai: การค้นพบ (th) (gaan-kón-póp)
• Turkish: keşif (tr)
• Ukrainian: відкриття́ n (vidkryttjá)
• Urdu: اِنْکِشاف m (inkiśāf), دَرْیافْت f (daryāft), اِکْتِشاف m (iktiśāf)
• Uyghur: بايقاش (bayqash)
• Uzbek: kashfiyot (uz), ixtiro (uz)
• Vietnamese: khám phá (vi)

the discovering of new things

• Arabic: اِكْتِشَاف (ar) m (iktišāf)
• Asturian: descubrimientu m
• Bulgarian: откри́тие (bg) n (otkrítie)
• Catalan: descobriment (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 發現 / 发现 (zh) (fāxiàn)

• Czech: objevování n, průzkum (cs) m
• Danish: opdagelse c
• Dutch: ontdekking (nl) f
• Esperanto: trovo (eo)
• Finnish: löytäminen (fi)
• French: découverte (fr) f
• Galician: descubrimento (gl) m
• Georgian: აღმოჩენა (aɣmočena)
• German: Entdeckung (de) f
• Greek: ανακάλυψη (el) f (anakálypsi)

  Ancient: εὕρημα f (heúrēma)

• Hebrew: גילוי m (gilúy)
• Hungarian: felfedezés (hu)
• Interlingua: discoperta
• Italian: scoperta (it) f
• Japanese: 発見 (ja) (はっけん, hakken)
• Kazakh: ашу (aşu)
• Korean: 발견(發見) (ko) (balgyeon)
• Latin: inventio (la) f
• Latvian: atklāšana f
• Lithuanian: atradimas m
• Maori: tūhuratanga
• Occitan: descobèrta (oc) f
• Old English: onfundennes f
• Ottoman Turkish: كشف (keşf, keşif)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: کَشْف (fa) (kašf), اِکْتِشاف (fa) (ektešâf)

• Polish: odkrywanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: descobrimento (pt) m, descoberta (pt) f
• Russian: откры́тие (ru) n (otkrýtije), открыва́ние (ru) n (otkryvánije)
• Slovak: hľadanie
• Spanish: descubrimiento (es) m, hallazgo (es) m
• Swedish: upptäckt (sv) c, fynd (sv) n
• Thai: การค้นหา (th) (gaan-kón-hǎa)
• Turkish: keşif (tr)

legal: pre-trial phase in which evidence is gathered

• Czech: vyšetřování (cs) n
• Finnish: tutkinta (fi)
• Hebrew: גילוי m (gilúy), גילוי מסמכים m (gilúy mismakhím)
• Spanish: descubrimiento (es) m

legal: materials revealed to the opposing party during the pre-trial phase

• Finnish: näyttö (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} découverte (fr) f
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} scoperta (it) f
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} دۆزینەوە (dozînewe)

• Lithuanian: (?) ^{(please verify)} atradinys m (1), (2) ^{(please verify)} atradimas m
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} descoperire (ro)
• Slovene: (1) ^{(please verify)} odkritje (sl) n