vbl. sb. [f. FIND v. + -ING1.]
1. The action of the vb. FIND in its ordinary senses; an instance of the same. Also with out.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 5364 (Trin.).
| Ioseph þat I haue founden here | |
| Of his fyndynge þonke I god so. |
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. xiii. 70 Into whos fynding and grounding doom of mannys resoun may suffice.
1611. Bible, Ecclus. xiii. 26. The finding out of parables, is a wearisome labour of the minde.
1870. Mrs. Riddell, Austin Friars, I. ii. 31. ‘You speak as though my misfortunes had been of my own seeking,’ he said. ‘They have been of your own finding, at any rate,’ was the reply.
b. That which is found or discovered; also, a find, a discovery.
1598. Florio, Trouadelli, findlings, children found, findings.
1644. Milton, Areop. (Arb.), 74. When a man hath bin labouring the hardest labour in the deep mines of knowledge, hath furnisht out his findings in all their equipage.
1805. W. Taylor, in Monthly Mag., XX. 339/1. I have seen among the findings at Pompeii, preserved in the Museum of Portici, an urn containing a hollow metallic cylinder, for the insertion of a red-hot iron, in which water was kept boiling.
1876. Tait, Rec. Adv. Phys. Sc., xiii. (ed. 2), 322. It is to Joule that we owe the first precise findings on the subject.
2. The action of inventing or devising; a device, invention. Now only with out; formerly also with up.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 27661 (Cott.).
| O nith cums bitternes o thoght, | |
| Finding of il, wit wicked for-thoght. |
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 1556.
| ‘And þai styrd God tyll wreth,’ sais he, | |
| ‘In þair new fyndynges of vanite.’ |
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 77. Here owene fyndynge vp, þat crist & apostlis spoken not of.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 4295.
| I will tell here a tale, er I turne ferre, | |
| Of þe fyndyng of false goddes, & the foule vse. |
1578. Timme, Caluine on Gen., 151. The finding out of Harps and such like Musical Instruments.
1641. Rogers, Naaman, 182. Beseech the Lord not to leaue thee to thine owne findings.
3. The action of providing or supplying.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., 358. He ȝaf a certein of possessioun for fynding of liȝtis.
1580. Baret, Alv., F 556. A finding … of things that one lacketh.
4. The action of maintaining or supporting (a person or an institution). † At a person’s finding(s: at his own cost or expense. Cf. FIND v. 19.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3221.
| A sergaunt … | |
| þat had ben ay at his finding, | |
| Euer siþen þat he was child ȝeing. |
1494. Fabyan, Chron. V. cxiii. 86. He gaue possessions for the fyndyng of hir.
1535. Gardiner, Lett. to Cromwell, in Strype, Eccl. Mem., I. xxx. 213. The finding of young children to school.
1642. Rogers, Naaman, 369. We will be at our owne findings.
1709. Strype, Ann. Ref., I. xxvi. 309. An annuity granted of 13l. 6s. 8d. out of lands in Wandlesworth, in Surrey, belonging to the archbishop of York, for the finding of a school in Guilford.
1840. Thackeray, Catherine, vii. She will be very glad to have the boy back again, and pay for the finding of him.
† b. Keep, maintenance, provision, support. Obs.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. VII. 293. [To] haue my fode and my fyndynge · of false menne wynnynges.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., III. v. 305. He myȝte bi riȝt haue askid his lijflode and fynding of hem to whom he prechid.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, VII. i. That he hadde al maner of fyndynge as though he were a lordes sone.
1565–73. Cooper, Thesaurus, Annona, finding in meate, drinke or apparell.
c. in pl. (See quots.) Also attrib. in finding-store (U.S.).
1846. Worcester (citing Chute), Findings pl., the tools and materials used by shoemakers.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Findings, the wax, thread and tools which a journeyman shoemaker has to supply himself with for his work. Ibid. Finding-stores, an American name for what are termed in England grindery-warehouses; shops where shoemakers’ tools, &c. are vended.
5. The result of a judicial examination or inquiry; the verdict of a jury, the decision of a judge or arbitrator.
1859. J. Lang, Wand. India, 364. He says that if the court-martial still adheres to its finding of murder, he will upset the whole of the proceedings, and order the man to return to his duty; and the court will adhere to its original finding; for the court says, and I say, that a private who deliberately loads his firelock, and deliberately fires at and wounds a serjeant, cannot properly be convicted of manslaughter only.
1865. Pall Mall G., 17 May, 11. Fitly says Sir Joseph Arnould, in his eloquent finding.
1884. G. Hastings, in Law Times Rep., 5 April, 175/1. The findings of an official referee have always been considered as equivalent to the findings of a jury.
