Discoveries

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /dɪsˈkʌvəɹiz/

Definitions

1. The acts of finding or learning something previously unknown ; the items, information, or truths that have been found or uncovered
2. Performing the process of uncovering new knowledge or facts ; the actual findings or revelations that result from such activity
3. Engaging in uncovering or detecting previously hidden knowledge ; the tangible or intangible outcomes of such efforts that expand understanding

Etymology: "Discoveries" is the plural of "discovery", which is built from the verb "discover" plus the suffix "-ery", on the model of the older pair "recover" and "recovery". The verb "discover" itself came into English from Old French, and the noun form followed the same pattern, so a discovery is the act or result of uncovering what was hidden. The noun did not start out as the everyday word it is now. It displaced an Old English term, "onfundennes", which was built on the verb "findan", "to find", and shows that the older English way of saying the same thing leaned on finding rather than uncovering. Over the centuries, "discovery" pushed that native word out of use. Plurals like this one naturally shift from the act of finding to the things found, which is how "discoveries" now means new things found.

Synonyms: findings, revelations, unveilings