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Origin and history of found

found(v.1)

"lay the basis of, establish," late 13c., from Old French fonder "found, establish; set, place; fashion, make" (12c.), from Latin fundare "to lay the bottom or foundation" of something, from fundus "bottom, foundation" (see fund (n.)). Related: Founded; founding. Phrase founding fathers with reference to the creators of the American republic is attested from 1916.

found(v.2)

"to cast metal," late 14c., originally "to mix, mingle," from Old French fondre "pour out, melt, smelt" (12c.), from Latin fundere (past participle fusus) "to melt, cast, pour out," from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour." Meaning "to cast metal" is from 1560s. Related: Founded; founding.

found(adj.)

"discovered," late 14c., past-participle adjective from find (v.). Phrase and found attached to the wages or charges in old advertisements for job openings, traveling berths, etc., indicates that meals are provided. It comes from the expression to find one's self "to provide for one's self." "When a laborer engages to provide himself with victuals, he is said to find himself, or to receive day wages" [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]. Hence, so much and found for "wages + meals provided."

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to found

find(v.)

Old English findan "come upon, meet with; discover; obtain by search or study" (class III strong verb; past tense fand, past participle funden), from Proto-Germanic *findan "to come upon, discover" (source also of Old Saxon findan, Old Frisian finda, Old Norse finna, Middle Dutch vinden, Old High German findan, German finden, Gothic finþan), originally "to come upon."

According to Watkins the Germanic word is from PIE root *pent- "to tread, go" (source also of Old High German fendeo "pedestrian;" Sanskrit panthah "path, way;" Avestan panta "way;" Greek pontos "open sea," patein "to tread, walk;" Latin pons (genitive pontis) "bridge;" Old Church Slavonic pǫti "path," pęta "heel;" Russian put' "path, way;" Armenian hun "ford," Old Prussian pintis "road"). The prehistoric sense development in Germanic would be from "to go" to "to find (out)," but Boutkan has serious doubts about this.

Germanic *-th- in English tends to become -d- after -n-. The change in the Germanic initial consonant is from Grimm's Law. To find out "to discover by scrutiny" is from 1550s (Middle English had a verb, outfinden, "to find out," c. 1300).

fund(n.)

1670s, "a bottom, the bottom; foundation, groundwork," from French fond "a bottom, floor, ground" (12c.), also "a merchant's basic stock or capital," from Latin fundus "bottom, foundation, piece of land" (from PIE root *bhudh- "bottom, base," source also of Sanskrit budhnah, Greek pythmen "foundation, bottom," Old English botm "lowest part;" see bottom (n.)). Meaning "stock of money or wealth available for some purpose" is from 1690s; sense of "store of anything to be drawn upon" is from 1704. Funds "money at one's disposal" is from 1728.

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foundation
late 14c., "action of founding," from Old French fondacion "foundation" (14c.) or directly from Late Latin fundationem (nominative fundatio) "a founding," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin fundare "to lay a bottom or foundation" (see found (v.1)). The Latin word i
founder
early 14c. "to send to the bottom" (transitive); late 14c., "to sink or fall" (intransitive), from Old French fondrer "collapse; submerge, sink, fall to the bottom" (Modern French fondrier), from fond "bottom" (12c.), from Latin fundus "bottom, foundation" (see fund (n.)). Not es
god
also God; Old English god "supreme being, deity; the Christian God; image of a god; godlike person," from Proto-Germanic *guthan (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Dutch god, Old High German got, German Gott, Old Norse guð, Gothic guþ), which is of uncertain origin; perhaps
institute
establish in office, appoint," from Latin institutus, past participle of instituere "to set up, put in place; arrange; found...General sense of "set up, found, introduce" first attested late 15c. Related: Instituted; instituting....
graffiti
1851, "ancient wall inscriptions found in the ruins of Pompeii," from Italian graffiti, plural of graffito "a scribbling,...They are found in many ancient places, but the habit was especially popular among the Romans....
mescal
"plant of the genus Agave," found in deserts of Mexico and southwestern U.S., especially the American aloe, or maguey plant...Also the name of a small desert cactus (peyote) found in northern Mexico and southern Texas (1885)....
rare
., "thin, airy, porous" (opposed to dense); mid-15c., "few in number and widely separated, sparsely distributed, seldom found...Rare means that there are much fewer of a kind to be found than may be found where scarce would apply....
attain
c. 1300, "succeed in reaching, come so near as to touch," from ataign-, stem of Old French ataindre "to come up to, reach, attain, endeavor, strive" (11c., Modern French atteindre), from Vulgar Latin *attangere, corresponding to Latin attingere "to touch; arrive at," from ad "to"
lost
c. 1300; "wasted, ruined, spent in vain," c. 1500; also "no longer to be found, gone astray" (1520s), past-participle adjectives from lose. Meaning "spiritually ruined, inaccessible to good influence" is from 1640s. Related: Lostness. Of battles, games, etc. in which one has been
slot
late 14c., "hollow at the base of the throat above the breastbone," from Old French esclot "hoofprint of a deer or horse," a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old Norse sloð "trail" (see sleuth). The anatomical sense is found in romances and in reference to wounds or blows;

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