retrouvées

Retrouvées is the feminine plural form of the past participle retrouvé, derived from the French verb retrouver. It is used as an adjective or in passive constructions to indicate that something has been found again or recovered.

As an adjective, retrouvées agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Examples include les lettres retrouvées (the letters that have been found again) and les œuvres retrouvées (the recovered works). In such uses, the sense is one of discovery after loss or absence, rather than creation.

In verb phrases, retrouvées appears in passive constructions with être, as in les lettres ont été retrouvées, meaning the letters have been recovered. The form also appears in noun-like contexts within reporting, catalogs, or scholarship to describe items that were missing or lost and have since been located, such as des manuscrits retrouvés (recovered manuscripts) or des photographies retrouvées (recovered photographs).

Usage notes: retrouvées is common in archaeology, history, art history, literature, and museum contexts, where researchers or curators describe artifacts, documents, or other objects reobtained after being lost or misplaced. It connotes successful localization, restoration, or verification of provenance, and is often found in catalogue entries, press releases, or scholarly discussions about recovered material.

See also: retrouver, retrouvé, retrouvrable. The term is exclusively feminine plural; masculine plural is retrouvés, and feminine singular is retrouvée.