discovered

9 synonyms for discovered, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Verb — Past tense and past participle of discover: to have found or come to know something that was previously unknown to you.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

found learned

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

uncovered spotted

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

found out realised located identified unearthed

Synonyms by Meaning

1. verb

Past tense and past participle of discover: to have found or come to know something that was previously unknown to you.

“I discovered the leak only when the ceiling stained.”

found found out learned uncovered realised

2. verb

Past tense and past participle of discover: to have found something that already existed but was unknown to the wider world, such as a place, species or law of nature.

“The tomb was discovered by a farmer digging a well.”

located identified unearthed

3. verb

Past tense and past participle of discover: to have noticed and brought forward someone with talent.

“She was discovered singing in a pub in Cork.”

spotted found

How to use discovered

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

newly discovered discovered that discovered by accident

Neutral, but the 'discovered a land' use carries colonial baggage and is often reworded.

Etymology

From Old French descovrir, from late Latin discooperire 'to uncover', from dis- 'un-' plus cooperire 'to cover'.

Full origin of discovered →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between discovered and invented?

You discover something that already existed and was waiting to be found, such as a planet, a species or a chemical element. You invent something that did not exist until someone made it, such as an engine or a vaccine formulation.

Can you say a country was discovered if people already lived there?

Only from the point of view of the arriving outsiders, and modern writing generally avoids it. Preferred wording names the perspective plainly, for example 'reached', 'arrived in' or 'was the first European to sight'.

People also searched

found learned spotted uncovered unearthed found out identified

Nearby words

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