trover

English

Etymology

Nominal use of Old French trover (“to find”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹəʊvə/

Noun

trover (countable and uncountable, plural trovers)

1. (law) Taking possession of personal property which has been found.
   • 1844, Robert Browning, "Garden Fancies," II. Sibrandus Schafnaburgennis:

     How did he like it when the live creatures

     Tickled and toused and browsed him all over,

     And worm, slug, eft, with serious features

     Came in, each one, for his right of trover?

2. (law) A legal action brought to recover such property by its original owner.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 431:

     The pocket-book was a late present from Mrs Western […] . A prudent person […] would not have offered more than a shilling, or perhaps sixpence, for it; nay, some perhaps would have given nothing, and left the fellow to his action of trover, which some learned serjeants may doubt whether he could, under these circumstances, have maintained.

   • 1792, Richard Burns, John Burns, “Trover”, in A New Law Dictionary, volume II:

     By a fiction of law, actions of trover are now permittedto be brought against any person who hath got into his possession by any means whatsoever the goods of another, and sold them or used them without the consent of the owner, or refused to deliver them when demanded.

Anagrams

• Trevor

Old French

Alternative forms

• truver

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *tropāre. Attested in the Alexis. Compare Old Occitan trobar.

Verb

trover

1. to find

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-v, *-vs, *-vt are modified to f, s, t. This verb has a stressed present stem truev distinct from the unstressed stem trov, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of trover (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		trover			avoir trové
gerund		en trovant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		trovant
past participle		trové
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	truis	trueves	trueve	trovons	trovez	truevent
	imperfect	trovoie, troveie, trovoe, troveve	trovoies, troveies, trovoes, troveves	trovoit, troveit, trovot, troveve	troviiens, troviens	troviiez, troviez	trovoient, troveient, trovoent, trovevent
	preterite	trovai	trovas	trova	trovames	trovastes	troverent
	future	troverai	troveras	trovera	troverons	troveroiz, trovereiz, troverez	troveront
	conditional	troveroie, trovereie	troveroies, trovereies	troveroit, trovereit	troveriiens, troveriens	troveriiez, troveriez	troveroient, trovereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	truisse	truisses	truisse, truist	trovons, truissiens, truissons	trovez, truissiez	truissent
	imperfect	trovasse	trovasses	trovast	trovissons, trovissiens	trovissoiz, trovissez, trovissiez	trovassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	truisse	—	trovons	trovez	—

Related terms

• troveor

Descendants

• Bourguignon: trovai
• Champenois: trouver
• Gallo: terouer
• Middle French: trouver
  • French: trouver
• Norman: trouver, trouvaer
• Picard: truvoèr
• Poitevin-Saintongeais: trovàe
• Walloon: trover
• → English: trover