befind

English

Etymology

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”).

Verb

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

1. (transitive, archaic) To find; discover.
   • 1898, Maurice Maeterlinck, Wisdom and Destiny, page 4:

     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.

   • 1966, Johann Melchior Dinglinger, Joachim Menzhausen, At the court of the Great Mogul, page 52:

     Farther in the height befinds itself […]

   • 2009, A. J. Marshall, The Bastion Prosecutor: Episode 3:

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

2. (transitive, obsolete) To invent; contrive.
3. (passive voice, obsolete) To be found; be.

Danish

Verb

befind

1. imperative of befinde