findingn.
/ˈfʌɪndɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈfaɪndɪŋ/ΚΠ
OE Regularis Concordia (Tiber.) (1993) lxiv. 133 Nullus quippiam, quamuis parum, sua ac quasi propria adinuentione agere presumat : nan ænig þing þeah þe a lytel hys & swylce agenre findincge don geþristlæce.
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) lxxx. 11 (MED) Ich lete hem go efter þe desire of her hertes, & so shal hij gon in her fyndynges to nouȝt.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. iii. 8 The findingus of hem aȝen the Lord.
?c1430 (?1383) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 308 (MED) Of þis falsyng is noon ende in mannis wit, for it encreseþ evere more in newe fyndyngys of blasphemye.
a1500 (?c1425) Speculum Sacerdotale (1936) 44 (MED) Mankynd..felle noȝt ne synned noȝt thorouȝ his owene fyndynge, but alle by thy suggestion and deceyte.
2.
a. The action of coming across or discovering something or someone by chance or as the result of searching or enquiry; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 1198 Þre sechers..To hauen of þis child findeing.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 5365 Ioseph..I haue founden here Of his fyndynge þonke I god so.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 70 Eny oon conclusioun..into whos fynding and grounding doom of mannys resoun may suffice.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (BL Add. 9066) (1879) 265 He found the child hole and sounde; the whiche was more glad of the fyndyng þan hert may thynk.
1533 T. More 2nd Pt. Confut. Tyndals Answere viii. p. cccccv What a ioye he maketh, as he were euyn made a kynge by the fyndynge of a bene in a chrystmas cake.
1594 Sir G. Carey Let. 22 Apr. in I. H. Jeayes Descriptive Catal. Charters Berkeley Castle (1892) 335 The findinge of his picteur framed in wax, with on of his owne heares prict directely in the hart therof.
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 231 When..finding of fault begins to interrupt our worke, it is impossible that the force of our hurled invention should keepe her course.
1650 T. Rudd Pract. Geom. ii. 5 In these three former Questions is handled the finding of the length of the perpendicular line in three kindes of Triangles.
1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar i. 7 I'll e'en go lose my self in some blind Alley; and try if any courteous Damsel will think me worth the finding.
1718 P. Motteux Don Quixote (1733) II. 23 Why that's well quoth Sancho: a happy Seeking and a happy Finding.
1748 Articles for High Peak Hundred in W. Hardy Miner's Guide 22 If any Miner within the King's Field, do brob or make any Holes for the finding of any Vein or Rake.
1807 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) II. 137 The finding of one force that shall be equal to several others taken together, in any different directions.
1870 C. E. L. Riddell Austin Friars ii ‘You speak as though my misfortunes had been of my own seeking’..‘They have been of your own finding’.
1961 I. Fleming Thunderball x. 109 All Bahamians know that treasure is there for the finding.
2010 Art Q. Summer 25/3 All the works are catalysts for the act of looking and maybe finding, or seeking and not finding.
b. Something which is found or discovered. Also: a find, a discovery.In early use also: †a person found or discovered, spec. a foundling (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > [noun] > a discovery
findingc1390
invention1613
discovery1632
the mind > possession > acquisition > [noun] > by finding
findingc1390
trover1594
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > [noun] > a find or discovery
findingc1390
discovery1632
find1827
c1390 (c1300) MS Vernon Homilies in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1877) 57 257/1 [She] hedde pite of þat fyndyng [a1400 Coll. Phys. funding], And let hit in to hire Nonnery bryng.
1580 A. Saker Narbonus 18 To maynteyne my poore estate, God sende me no moe suche fyndings, nor gyue me suche windfalles.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Trouadelli, findlings, children found, findings.
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 36 When a man hath bin labouring..in the deep mines of knowledge, hath furnisht out his findings.
1766 Crit. Rev. May 336 It is the church..that finds therein, and proves thereby, the propositions to be subscribed. And if a man should after that pretend to interpose his own judgment in contradiction to the church's findings and provings, the church, with the help of the state, would soon shew him his mistake.
1791 J. Byng Diary 26 June in Torrington Diaries (1935) II. 337 Mr. Cooper, of this town,..shew'd me some petrefactions, an old castle key, and other little findings.
1805 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. 20 339 The findings at Pompeii, preserved in the Museum of Portici.
1876 P. G. Tait Lect. Recent Adv. in Physical Sci. (ed. 2) xiii. 322 To Joule we owe the first precise findings on the subject.
1947 R. Bedichek Adventures with Texas Naturalist (1984) 221 Court testimony has proved frequently that no two eye- and ear-witnesses ever see and hear the same occurrence exactly alike, and laboratory tests confirm the finding.
1965 Listener 10 June 861/3 This last finding, a very interesting one, must not be applied too strictly to humans.
2006 O. Pearson Albania as Dictatorship & Democracy 528 The Archaeological and Ethnographical Museum, consisting of several rooms devoted to archaeological findings.
2011 Daily Tel. 29 July 4/5 The finding..suggests that psychological factors may help override humans' wired-in preference for high-fat, sugary foods.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means > available means or a resource > a device, contrivance, or expedient
costOE
craftOE
custc1275
ginc1275
devicec1290
enginec1300
quaintisec1300
contrevurec1330
castc1340
knackc1369
findinga1382
wilea1400
conject14..
skiftc1400
policy?1406
subtilityc1410
policec1450
conjecturea1464
industry1477
invention1516
cunning1526
shift1530
compass1540
chevisance1548
trade1550
tour1558
fashion1562
invent?1567
expediment1571
trick1573
ingeny1588
machine1595
lock1598
contrival1602
contrivement1611
artifice1620
recipea1643
ingenuity1651
expedient1653
contrivance1661
excogitation1664
mechanism1669
expediency1683
stroke1699
spell1728
management1736
manoeuvre1769
move1794
wrinkle1817
dodge1842
jigamaree1847
quiff1881
kink1889
lurk1916
gadget1920
fastie1931
ploy1940
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. xiv. 12 The bigynnyng forsothe of fornycacioun is the outseching of maumetis, and the finding [L. adinventio] of hem is corupcioun of lyf.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 27661 O nith cums..Finding of il.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 1557 Þai styrd God tyll wreth..In þair new fyndynges of vanite.
1519 D. James tr. Catherine of Siena Orcharde of Syon (de Worde) v. iv. sig. uiv They bynde them faster in some other synne lyke them or greater, & with newe fyndynges and wayes of wretchednesse they fall with them in synne.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 67 I will tell here a tale..Of þe fyndyng of false goddes.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 182 Beseech the Lord not to leaue thee to thine owne findings.
4. † a. The action of maintaining or supporting a person or an institution. †at a person's finding(s): at his own cost or expense. Cf. find v. 18. Obsolete.† b. Material support; keep, maintenance, provision. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > provision of means of support or livelihood > action of
maintaininga1387
finding1389
supporting1431
founding1697
society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [adverb] > at one's own expense
at a person's finding(s)1389
at one's own stipends?a1475
1389 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 42 (MED) If þe comune box ne may nouȝt perfourme þis fyndyng of suche seke breþeren.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 3223 A sergaunt..þat had ben ay at his finding, Euer siþen þat he was child ȝeing.
c1450 (?a1400) Duke Rowland & Sir Otuell (1880) l. 1035 (MED) Thies seuen hundrethe knyghtis Duellede with Belesante..At hir awenn Fyndynge.
1457 in W. Chambers Charters Burgh Peebles (1872) 18 Jonot sal geyf hym..xl s. and a ȝerris fyndyng.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. cxiii. f. li He gaue possessions for the fyndyng of hir.
1535 S. Winton Let. 2 May in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1822) I. ii. xxx. 328 The finding of young children to school.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 369 We will be at our owne findings.
1709 J. Strype Ann. Reformation xxvi. 309 An annuity..for the finding of a school in Guilford.
1736 Prescription Sacred 9 The same Custom seems to be grievous and unreasonable, especially where the Benefices are..sufficient for the finding of the said Ministers and Curates.
1840 W. M. Thackeray Catherine vii She will be very glad to..pay for the finding of him.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > provision of means of support or livelihood
substancec1384
maintenance1389
sustenance1389
sustentation1389
sustaining1395
findingc1400
uphold1439
retainment1449
exhibition?a1475
entertainment?c1475
upholdingc1480
entertaininga1492
sustenation1496
support1561
alimentation1590
alimony1622
enablement1626
subsisting1698
keep1801
life support1852
palimony1977
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. vii. l. 293 [To] haue my fode and my fyndynge of false menne wynnynges.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 294 That he had all maner of fyndynge as though he were a lordys sonne.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Annona,..findyng in meate, drinke or apparell.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry xxxi. f. 37v Haue ye good feeding, in bushets & leaze: & quickly safe finedinge, of cattle at ease.
c. North American. In plural.
(a) Tools and materials used for making and mending shoes. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > making footwear > [noun] > equipment or materials for
grindery1805
finding1822
shoe findings1836
kit1845
furnishings1892
1822 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 5 Oct. 3/5 (advt.) They offer for Sale a General Assortment of findings, &c. They also manufacture all kinds of Boot trees and Lasts.
1841 22nd Ann. Rep. N.-Y. Inst. for Instr. Deaf & Dumb 1840 11 For Shoe Shop,..Findings, 76 23.
1905 Canad. Shoe & Leather Jrnl. Jan. 25/2 Good shoe retailing includes a department of findings that pays.
1994 W. Marvel Andersonville ii. 46 After learning of a cargo of shoemakers' findings that had run the blockade into Mobile, he applied for the entire shipment.
(b) Small items used as adornments or in sewing; haberdashery, notions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > [noun] > equipment > other
tagging iron1436
shaping board1442
lay-board1790
finding1856
tailor's chalk1881
tracing-wheel1894
buttonhole cutter1966
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > other
none-so-prettyc1700
finding1856
needle threader1863
packing-awl1875
thread clips1958
1856 Amer. Med. Gaz. Jan. 16 ‘A little French milliner’... Madame's little nook..groaned under the accumulation of silks and velvets, and ‘fashionable findings.’
1893 Jewelers' Circular 4 Oct. (World's Fair Suppl.) 28/1 In the center below the wheel are hand-painted gros grain white silk ribbon chains for ladies, with gold and silver findings, and from each side of these are draped double strand vest chains with ‘gold front’ slides.
1896 Godey's Mag. Feb. 222/2 The cost of findings for a waist.
2015 E. L. Brannon & L. Divita Fashion Forecasting i. iii. 67/2 To buyers with more discriminating tastes, the workmanship, quality of the leather, findings, and finishes on the expensive bag make it authentic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > action of providing or supplying
usea1382
purveyancea1387
administration?a1425
application?a1425
ministration?a1425
purveying1442
findingc1449
administering1468
liveryc1475
storing1494
furnishing1496
nourishinga1530
ministering1530
conference1545
applial1548
affording1574
supplying1586
supplyment1589
accommodation1612
suppeditation1612
furniturea1649
supplial1738
purveyal1877
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 358 He ȝaf a certein of possessioun for fynding of liȝtis.
1548 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1895) II. 478 There is a stoke of xxij s. yeven to the finding of a light in the said chapell.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie F 530 A finding..of things that one lacketh.
1641 Rastell's Termes de la Ley (new ed.) f. 199 Mandamus is a Writ that goes to the Escheator for the finding of an office after the death of one that died the Kings Tenant.
1656 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 118 New setting ye Pyracanthus Dike and finding of ye Fur Lair to back it with.
1824 N. Dane Gen. Abridgement Amer. Law IV. cxvii. 391 Plt. demurred generally, and judgment for him; for the finding of the slates was no condition precedent, but a mutual covenant.
6.
a. The result of a judicial examination or inquiry; the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge or arbitrator.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > [noun] > judgement or decision of court
judgement?a1300
rulinga1382
deliverance1385
sentencec1386
laudc1465
judiciala1500
arrest1509
interlocutor1533
finding1581
fatwa1625
decreea1642
arrêtc1650
1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha ii. v. 384 An Enditement is their [sc. Jurors'] finding of a Bill of accusation to bee true.
1642 King Charles I Declar. to Loving Subj. 12 Aug. 35 A Writ was sent to the Sheriffe to impannell a Jury, according to the Law, for the examination, and finding of this Riot.
1700 Baron & Feme xxiii. 216 The finding of the Jury that the things bought by the wife necessary to the degree of her husband is not good for the Law.
1828 Cases decided on Appeal from Courts Scotl. 1824 360 Davidson represented against the findings in this judgment.
1859 J. Lang Wanderings in India 364 The court-martial still adheres to its finding of murder.
1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 May 11 Fitly says Sir Joseph Arnould, in his eloquent finding.
1884 G. Hastings in Law Times Rep. 5 Apr. 175/1 The findings of an official referee have always been considered as equivalent to the findings of a jury.
1911 7th Biennial Rep. Indiana Labor Comm. 1909–10 40 The said Labor Commission have considered all the evidence obtained from both sides of the contest and render the following finding.
1965 New Statesman 10 Dec. 920/2 The ‘stigma’ of a juvenile court conviction, even now ineffectually euphemised as a ‘finding of guilt’.
1985 Immigration Appeal Rep. (Lexis) 8 Nov. The adjudicator gave it as his view that a finding of impotence, quoad hanc, is an unusual finding.
b. U.S. Politics. A directive issued by the President; now spec. one applied to a presidential decision to proceed with covert operations determined to be in the national interest.
ΚΠ
1919 Northwestern Reporter 174 607/2 That the governmental power is ample..under the exigencies shown by the Presidential findings and proclamations is not open to controversy.
1940 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 34 303 The Act..for the first time made the existence of foreign war itself, so far as the United States is concerned, explicitly contingent upon a ‘finding’ by the President.
1987 Times 16 July 7/3 The CIA sent over to you a proposed finding for the President to sign.
1994 T. Clancy Debt of Honor xxxvii. 579 A Finding was essentially a Presidential decree that the law meant what the President thought it meant.
2004 9/11 Comm. Rep. (National Comm. Terrorist Attacks U.S.) iv. 113 A 1986 presidential finding had authorized worldwide covert action against terrorism and probably provided adequate authority.
Phrases
Proverb. finding (is) keeping. Also findings (are) keepings. Cf. finders keepers at finder n. Phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > acquisition or loss [phrase] > find or keep
findings (are) keepings1807
finders keepers1831
1807 W. C. Hazlitt Reply Ess. Population ii. 50 I [sc. Malthus] have a short answer to all objections, to be sure I found it in an old political receipt-book..by one Wallace, a man not much known, but no matter for that, finding is keeping, you know.
1848 Puppet Show 9 Sept. 154/2 I need not pay for it, on the well known principle of our school-boy days, of ‘Findings, keepings’.
1861 Dublin Univ. Mag. July 73/2 The vulgar proverb, ‘Findings are keepings,’ may come too true.
1863 J. H. Speke Jrnl. Discov. Source Nile v. 121 The scoundrels said, ‘Findings are keepings, by the laws of our country; and as we found your cows, so we will keep them.’
1904 Daily Chron. 27 Sept. 1/7 Harsh sentences of imprisonment for ‘findings-keepings’ offences.
1953 Irish Times 20 June 8 The ticket was Hennesy's property; and the law doesn't recognise that findings are keepings, you know.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren viii. 134 Articles may be acquired..by ‘finding-keeping’.
1963 G. Greene Sense of Reality 38 ‘I found them in the passage..’ ‘Finding's not keeping here’, he said, ‘whatever it may be up there.’
1982 PN Rev. No. 26. To read my hand and find I have no heart is doubtful palmistry but honest thieving and true. I have no heart if finding's keeping.
Compounds
C1. With adverbs forming compound verbal nouns corresponding to adverbial combinations of find, as †finding forth, finding out, †finding up.
ΚΠ
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 77 Here owene fyndynge vp, þat crist & apostlis spoken not of.
1535 W. Marshall tr. Marsilius of Padua Def. of Peace xi. f. 25 Aristotle treatynge of theinuencyon and fyndynge out of the trouth, as touchynge to euery arte or dyscyplyne and scyence, in his seconde boke of Phylosophie.
1578 T. Tymme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Genesis 151 The finding out of Harps and such like Musical Instruments.
1581 J. Maplet Diall Destiny f. 16v To the inquisition and finding forth of truth, & to the defence of the same.
1611 Bible (King James) Ecclus. xiii. 26 The finding out of parables is a wearisome labour of the minde. View more context for this quotation
1654 S. Ward Vindiciæ Academiarum iv. 24 Logick..is ill applyed for the finding forth of verity.
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Prutenick Tables, certain Tables for the finding out of the Celestial motions.
1715 W. Whiston Astron. Lect. i. 28 For the finding out of which [Parallaxes and Distances] we took upon us to consider a Twofold Method of Tryal.
1828 C. Hyatt Sinner Detected 16 Yet there is a finding out of sin in two other respects.
1928 Bull. Amer. Inst. Bankers Feb. 737/1 Discovery, commonly, is as well applied to the finding out of any old thing as of a new one; while invention in patent law relates especially to absolute origination.
1979 K. Amis Coll. Poems 83 Love is a finding-out.
2003 Daily Rec. (Nexis) 22 Mar. 67 When we started winning games in Europe there was a finding out about the components of our team.
C2. † finding store n. U.S. Obsolete a store selling shoemakers' tools and supplies.
finding aid n. a descriptive inventory of records in an archive, providing details on the state of the collection, its contents, provenance, arrangement, and other relevant information.
ΚΠ
1938 Pacific Northwest Q. 29 38 Almost without exception the states have initiated or completed the preparation of finding aids of some kind.
1999 Arch. at Millennium 1991–9 (28th Rep. Royal. Comm. Hist. MSS) 22/2 The conversion into searchable electronic form of archive catalogues and other finding aids..will significantly enhance and accelerate research.
2007 New Yorker 11 June 66/2 The finding aid is an overview of what an archive contains.
finding dog n. a hunting dog; spec. a dog in a hunting pack that finds the quarry; cf. finder n. 2.
ΚΠ
1814 W. Dobson Kunopædia 122 From the moment he shall have his attention awakened to such discovery by the summons of Take heed! to become as a statue immoveable, with his nose directed to the finding dog.
1901 B. Waters Training Hunting Dog xiv. 197 It requires no argument to prove that it is easier and better to perfect the dog in the first as a finding dog one season, and second as a retriever the ensuing season, than it is to attempt to perfect him in both branches at the same time.
1940 E. C. Studholme Te Waimate (1954) 254 A good finding dog was frequently no good at holding, as he would probably simply run round and round the pig.
1982 P. Holden Wild Pig in N.Z. xxvi. 156 A good finding dog is a true hunting animal. It locates a pig by working either an air or a ground scent, whichever it has an instinctive leaning towards.
finding list n. a simple list of books located in a particular library or libraries.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > book list > [noun] > list of books in library or libraries
finding list1866
union list1885
union catalogue1897
1866 Boston Publ. Libr. Finding List for Alcoves IV & VI 1 in Libr. Q. 59 (1989) It is proposed, as the revision proceeds, to print for temporary use brief Finding Lists of the books, alcove by alcove.
1930 Library 11 iii. 260 I had prepared a skeleton finding-list only.
1961 T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 142/2 Finding list, a list of books, often of a special kind or by a particular writer, represented in a library or in the libraries within a given area.
2009 Notes 66 57 The collection has been indexed and the finding list will soon be available on the MSU Web site.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shops selling other specific goods
jeweller's shop1632
ironmongery1648
ironmonger1673
jeweller1675
news shop1688
print shop1689
Indian house1692
coal shed1718
pamphlet shop1721
lormery1725
drugstore1771
hardware store1777
junk store1777
chandler-shop1782
junk shop1790
music store1794
pot shop1794
finding store1822
marine store1837
picture house1838
paint shop1847
news agency1852
chemist1856
Army and Navy1878
cyclery1886
jumble-shop1893
pig shop1896
Manchester department1905
lot1909
craft shop1911
garden centre1912
pet shop1927
sex shop1949
video store1949
quincaillerie1951
home centre1955
Army-Navy1965
cookshop1967
sound shop1972
bucket-shop1973
1822 Longworth's Amer. Almanac (new ed.) (N.Y. Directory) 476 White John, finding store 99 Division.
1827 Boston Directory (advt.) General Finding Store for boot and shoe makers..keeps all kinds of tools and other articles used by shoe makers.
1889 Maine Farmer 3 Oct. 2/5 A correspondent at Bingham inquires if there is any place in Maine where boot and shoe lasts are turned out. We think..he can be accommodated at the finding stores in Boston or Portland.
1914 Shoe & Leather Reporter 22 Oct. 21/12 Wm. Creedon..has started a leather and finding store at 61 North Main street.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.OE