- OE. discoverendiscurendescuren, OF. descovrirdescouvrir, F. découvrir; des-L. dis-) + couvrir to cover. See Cover
- To uncover.ObsWhether any man hath pulled down or discovered any church.
- To disclose; to lay open to view; to make visible; to reveal; to make known; to show (what has been secret, unseen, or unknown).ArchaicGo, draw aside the curtains, and discover The several caskets to this noble prince.Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue.We will discover ourselves unto them.Discover not a secret to another.
- To obtain for the first time sight or knowledge of, as of a thing existing already, but not perceived or known; to find; to ascertain; to espy; to detect.wns=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8Some to discover islands far away.
- To manifest without design; to show.The youth discovered a taste for sculpture.
- To explore; to examine.ObsTo disclose; bring out; exhibit; show; manifest; reveal; communicate; impart; tell; espy; find; out; detect. -- To DiscoverInvent. We discover what existed before, but remained unknown; we invent by forming combinations which are either entirely new, or which attain their end by means unknown before. Columbus discovered America; Newton discovered the law of gravitation; Whitney invented the cotton gin; Galileo invented the telescope.
