found

Found is a word with multiple related meanings centered on discovery and creation. It is the past tense and past participle of the verb find, as in “She found her keys.” It also derives from the verb to found, meaning to establish or create something, such as a school or organization; its present tense forms include “founds” (he/she/it founds), while the past tense and past participle are “founded.” In addition, found can function as an adjective meaning discovered or recovered, as in “found treasure” or “found objects.”

Etymology and usage notes often distinguish the two roots. The discovery sense comes from Old English findan, related to finding or locating something. The sense of establishing an institution or entity developed later in Middle English and early modern English, giving rise to phrases like “founded in 1900.” The word found may appear in legal or journalistic contexts as the past tense of find (e.g., “The court found him guilty.”) and in artistic terms as “found art,” which uses ordinary objects discovered rather than manufactured for the artwork.

Common collocations include found a company, found evidence, found object, and found image. The distinction between found (discovered) and founded (established) is important for clarity, especially in written and formal contexts.

See also: find, founded, founding, found object, foundry.