English
find
Find comes from Middle English finden ‘to find’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pent- ‘to go, pass’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pent-1‘to go’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*finþaną1‘to find’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*finþan1‘to find’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150findan1‘to find’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500finden1‘to find’
- Englishearliest quotation 1526find1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English find
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “And in thoſe dayes ſhall men ſeke deeth /…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pent-Wiktionary, English find‘to go’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*finþanąWiktionary, English find‘to find’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*finþanWiktionary, English find‘to find’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150findanWiktionary, English find‘to find’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500findenWiktionary, English find‘to find’
- Englishearliest quotation 1526findWiktionary, English find. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “And in thoſe dayes ſhall men ſeke deeth /…”
The story
For the meaning development compare Proto-Slavic *najьti > Russian найти́ (najtí), akin to Proto-Slavic *jьti > идти́ (idtí); Russian находи́ть (naxodítʹ), нахо́дка (naxódka), akin to ход (xod), ходи́ть (xodítʹ).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pent- ‘to go, pass’
path, patrol, pad, faze, pontiff, sputnik, pontoon, pons, pontifical, pontifex, 14 more
Today it means
verb To encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “find”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pent- / find