find

Find is a verb meaning to locate something that is sought. It can also refer to the thing located, especially when the discovery is notable or valuable, in which case one might speak of a “find.” The standard past tense is found. In common usage, find can describe locating physical objects, information, people, or opportunities.

Etymologically, find derives from the Old English finna, meaning to come upon or discover. Related words exist in other Germanic languages, such as Dutch vinden and German finden, reflecting a shared ancestral root. The term has long been used in everyday language, law, science, and technology to denote successful locating or discovery.

In formal contexts, find appears as a legal term: a court or jury may “find” a fact or liability, producing a finding or findings of fact. These determinations guide judgments and may be subject to appeal or further review.

In computing and digital contexts, the term appears in several specialized senses. The Unix and Unix-like find command searches directory trees for files matching specified criteria. In spreadsheet software, the FIND function returns the position of a substring within a string and is typically case-sensitive. In programming, languages offer find-like constructs, such as JavaScript’s Array.find, which returns the first element satisfying a predicate, or Pythonic patterns using generators to locate an item. Web browsers provide a “Find in page” feature (often triggered by Ctrl+F) to locate text within the current document.

In archaeology and cultural studies, a find refers to an object recovered during excavation, study, or survey, often cataloged as part of a collection or archive.