befind

B3E1F4I1N1D2

verb

To find; discover.

OriginMiddle English befinden →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

verbbefind (third-person singular simple present befinds, present participle befinding, simple past and past participle befound)

present singular third person befinds · participle present befinding · participle past befound · past befound

  1. archaictransitiveTo find; discover.

    Farther in the height befinds itself […]

    1966, Johann Melchior Dinglinger, Joachim Menzhausen, At the court of the Great Mogul, page 52
    2 more examples

    It is well that the thinker should give his thoughts to the world, though it must be admitted that wisdom befinds itself sometimes in the reverse of the sage's pronouncement.

    1898, Maurice Maeterlinck, Wisdom and Destiny, page 4

    Until after a full celestial epoch, the fairest place was befound and it was bequest them.

    2009, A. J. Marshall, The Bastion Prosecutor: Episode 3
  2. obsoletetransitiveTo invent; contrive.
  3. obsoletepassive voiceTo be found; be.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishbefinden
  2. Englishbefind

From Middle English befinden, bifinden, equivalent to be- + find. Cognate with Saterland Frisian befiende (“to be located, befind”), Dutch bevinden (“to find”), German befinden (“to be, be located”), Swedish befinna (“to find, be”).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

befind. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befind

MLA

“befind.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befind. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “befind,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befind.

Source: befind on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.