discover (diskuver)

[ mod. E. dial. diskiver ), and contr. discuren, descuren (see discure), Than sholde ye haue sey shotte of arowes and quarelles fle so thikke that noon durste discouer his heed. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 660. Bacon, Fable of Pan. Pan... discovered her to the rest. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover The several caskets to this noble prince. Shak., M. of V., ii. 7. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and dis covereth the forests [revised version, "strippeth the forests bare"]. Ps. xxix. 9. The opening of the Earth shall discover confused and dark Hell. Howell , Letters, iv. 43. 2. To exhibit; allow to be seen and known; act so as to manifest (unconsciously or unintentionally); betray: as, to discover a generous spirit; he discovered great confusion. [Archaic.] O, I shall discover myself! I tremble so unlike a soldier. Sheridan (?), The Camp, ii. 3. I think the lady discovered both generosity and a just way of thinking, in this rebuke which she gave her lover. Lamb , Modern Gallantry. It was inevitable that time should discover the differences between characters and intellects so unlike. E. Dowden , Shelley, L. 130. 3. To make known by speech; tell; reveal. Then, Joan, discover thine infirmity; That warrant eth by law to be thy privilege, Shak., 1 Hen. VI., v. 4. I find him in great anxiety, though he will not discover it, in the busine of the proceedings of Parliament. Pepys , Diary, III. 390. 4. To gain a sight of, especially for the first time or after a period of concealment; espy: as, land was discovered on the lee bow. When we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand. Acts xxi. 3. Hence-5. To gain the first knowledge of; find out, as something that was before entirely unknown, either to men in general, to the finder, or to persons concerned: as, Columbus disc or ered the new world; Newton discovered the law of gravitation; we often discover our mistakes when too late. March ants & trauellers, who by late nauigations haue surueyed the whole world, and discouered large countries and strange peoples wild and sauage. Putten ham , Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 7. Crimes of the most frightful kind had been discovered ; others were suspected. Macaulay , Nugent's Hampden. 6t. To explore; bring to light by examination. In the mean time, we had sent men to discover Merrimack, and found some part of it above Penkook to lie more northerly than forty-three and a half. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 365. 7t. To cause to cease to be a covering; make to be no longer a cover. For the greatne of thy iniquity are thy skirts discov ered and thy heels made bare. Jer xiii. 22. =Syn. 3. To communicate, impart.-4. To descry, discern, behold.-5. Discover, Invent, agree in signifying to find out; but we discover what already exists, though to us unknown; we invent what did not before exist; as, to discover the applicability of steam to the purposes of lo comotion, and to invent the machinery nece ary to use steam for these ends. (See invention.) Some things are of so mixed a character that either word may be applied to them. A great poet invents nothing, but seems rather to rediscover the world about him, and his penetrating vision gives to things of daily encounter something of the strangene of new creation. Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 203, IMG:content-2775.png:[blocks in formation] discoverable (dis-kuv'er-a-bl), a. [ -able .] Capable of being discovered; that may be brought to light, seen, or exposed to view; that may be found out or made known. Nothing discoverable in the lunar surface is ever covered by the interposition of any clouds or mists. Bentley . Much truth, discoverable even at the present stage of human improvement, as we have every reason to think, remains undiscovered. Everett, Orations, I. 276. 3. The act of gaining sight of; the act of escredit or reputation; disreputable; disgrace- pying: as, the discovery of land after a voyage. ful. -4. The act of finding out or of bringing bringing to knowledge what was unknown; first knowledge Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood. Sir W. Hamilton . Territory extended by a brilliant career of discovery and conquest. Pre scott. 5. That which is discovered, found out, or re- vealed; that which is first brought to light, seen, or known: as, the properties of the magnet were an important discovery . Great and useful discoveries are sometimes made by ac- Steele , Tatler, No. 178. In religion there have been many discoveries , but (in true religion, I mean) no inventions. 6. In the drama , the unraveling of a plot, or the manner of unfolding the plot or story of a comedy or tragedy.-7. In law , disclosure by a party to an action, at the instance of the other party, as of facts within his memory or of a document within his control. It was formerly a dis- tinguishing feature of the proceedings of a court of chan- cery or equity that it could compel the defendant to make discovery of all material facts and documents within his power, while in courts of common law compelling dis- covery has been introduced only by modern statutes. 8t. Exploration. Upon the more exact discovery thereof, they found it to be no harbour for ships, but only for boats. ing the first to discover the mineral deposit, lode, or vein on which the claim is made. The discoverer and locater of a new lead is, in most mining districts, entitled to one extra claim for discovery. [Cor- dilleran mining-region.] defense artifices as discreditable as those which had been discreditably (dis-kred'i-ta-bli), adv . In a dis- creditable manner. One who dis- discredit or (dis-kred'i-tor), n. credits. [Rare.] discreet (dis-krēt'), a. [ discret , discrete , discreet ; = D. discreet = G. discret = Dan. Sw. diskret , discret = Sp. Pg. It. discreto , prudent, also distinct, discretus , pp. of dis- cernere, distinguish, discern: see discern , and discrete , doublet of discreet .] 11. Distinct; dis- tinguishable; discrete. See discrete , the usual spelling in this sense. The waters fall, with difference discreet , Now soft, now loud, unto the wind did call. discovery (dis-kuv'èr-i), n .; pl. discoveries (-iz). [ descuver- ing , i. e., discovering . Cf. OF. descouverte , F. découverte (see discovert , n.); OF. descouvrement, F. découvrement, discovery.] 1. The act of disclosing to view.-2. The act of revealing; a making known; a declaration; disclosure: as, a bankrupt is bound to make a full discovery of his estate and effects. [Archaic except in legal use.] She dares not thereof make discovery , Lest he should hold it her own gro abuse, Ere she with blood had stain'd her stain'd excuse. Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1314. Then covenant and take oath Chapman. discoveries brings about that fatal Event which is the sub- To my discovery . The Weakne of which Adam here gives such distant Add is on, Spectator, No. 345. cradle, v.] To come forth from or as if from a cradle; emerge or originate. This airy apparition first dis cradled From Tournay into Portugal. Ford , Perkin Warbeck, i. 3. discrase, discrasite (dis'krās, krā-sīt), п. Same as dyscrasite . décréditer = It. discredit are , screditare (= Sp. Pg. des acred i tar ; cf. accredit ); as dis- + credit , v. Cf. OF. discreer = Sp. descreer = Pg. descrer = It. discredere , scredere , descredere , dis- not to credit or believe: as, the report is dis- credited. discredited as resting solely on authority, another large division of it is now rejected as resting on insufficient in- duction, and another as resting on groundle a ump- 2. To injure the credit or reputation of; make le esteemed or honored; fail to do credit to. He has discredited my house and board With his rude swaggering manners. B. Jonson , Magnet ick Lady, iii. 3. He least discredits his travels who returns the same man he went. Sir H. Wotton . Myself would work eye dim, and finger lame, Far liefer than so much discredit him. 3. To deprive of credibility; destroy confidence in. Substantive evidence is that adduced for the purpose of proving a fact in i ue, as opposed to evidence given for the purpose of discrediting a witne (i. e., showing that he is unworthy of belief) or of corroborating his test i- mony. Rapalje and Lawrence, Evidence, § 12. discredit (dis-kred'it), n. [= F. discrédit = Sp. descrédito = Pg. des cred i to = It. disc red i to , scredito; from the verb.] 1. Want of credit or good repute; some degree of disgrace or reproach; disesteem: applied to persons or things: as, frauds that bring manufactures into discredit ; a transaction much to his discredit . learned, and to shew him selfe amorous of any good Art. Putten ham , Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 16. I think good to deliver it from the discredits and dis- graces which it hath received. Bacon , Advancement of Learning, i. 6. It is the duty of every Christian to be concerned for the reputation or discredit his life may bring on his profes- sion. Rogers . 2. Want of belief, trust, or confidence; dis be- lief: as, his story is received with discredit . Syn. 1. Disrepute, dishonor, ill repute. - 2. Distrust, doubt. discreditable (dis-kred'i-ta-bl), a . [ dis -priv. + creditable. Cf. discredit.] Tending to injure At this discrepancy of judgments-mad, The man took on himself the office, judged. IMG:content-2776.png:[blocks in formation] Is many ages discrepant from thine; This was the season when desert was stoopt to. As our degrees are in order distant, So the degrees of our strengths are discrepant . Heywood. The Author of our being has implanted in us our dis- crepant tendencies, for wise purposes, and they are, in- deed, a part of the law of life itself. G. P. Marsh, Lects. on Eng. Lang., i. A cognition which may be widely discrepant from the Mind , IX. 341. truth. discrepant II. n. One who disagrees or di ents from another, especially in religious belief; a dis senter. If you persecute heretics or disc rep ants , they unite themselves as to a common defence. Jer . Taylor , Works (ed. 1835), II. 385. discrete (dis-krēt'), a . [Same as discreet , but directly discretus , distinguished, separated, pp . of discern ere , distinguish, separate: see dis cern and discreet .] 1. Separate; distinct from others; individual: opposed to concrete . In discrete terms or suppositions are such as refer to single individuals. In music, discrete tones are such as are sep a rated by fixed or obvious steps or intervals of pitch, as those of a pianoforte. There are two laws discrete , Not reconciled,- Law for man, and law for thing. Emerson, Ode to Channing. A society, formed of discrete units, and not having had IMG:content-2777.png:[blocks in formation] cretion to lay on with stick or sword whenever they observe any fellows pillaging. W. H. Ru ell , Diary in India, II. 309. 4. In law, that part of the judicial power which depends, not upon the application of rules of law or the determination of questions of strict right, but upon personal judgment to be exercised in view of the circumstances of each case, and which therefore is not usually reviewed by an appellate tribunal, unle abused. Thus, the question how many witne es a party may call to testify to one and the same fact rests in discretion, but the question whether a particular witne is competent is much more plastic [than other social organizations]. H. Spencer, Prin. of Sociol., § 444. Its seeming continuity is broken up into discrete molecules, separated from each other as the stars in the Milky Way are separated. G. H. Lewes, Probs. of Life and Mind, II. 29. 2. Consisting of distinct or individual parts; not continuous. Discrete quantity is quantity composed of distinct units, like rational numbers; a system of quantities capable of being in one-to-one correspon dence with the series of positive, integer numbers. Dis crete proportion is a proportion in which the ratio of the first term to the second is equal to that of the third to the fourth, not to that of the second to the third. 3. In med., opposed to confluent: as, discrete exanthemata. Dunglison.-4. In bot., not coalescent; distinct. - 5. Disjunctive; consisting of parts united by some extrinsic bond of connection. Thus, the notion of "women, sailors, and idiots" is a discrete notion.-6. Discretive; containing exceptions, real or apparent. - Dis crete degrees, degrees or states of existence so differentiated from one another that their respective subjects can by no means pa from one to another of them: applied by Swedenborg to the higher or lower levels of spiritual life, here and hereafter, to which it is po ible for differently constituted, or in the future life differently developed, individuals to attain.