finder
(ˈfaɪndə(r))
[f. find v. + -er1.]
1. a. One who or that which finds, in various senses of the vb.; one who comes upon or discovers by chance or search; † one who contrives or invents, an inventor, deviser; † one who discovers (a country, a scientific truth, etc.).
| c 1300 K. Alis. 4794 Beheldeth me therof no fynder; Her bokes ben my shewer. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1168 Pictagoras..the firste fynder was Of the art. a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. (Roxb.) 179 The first fynder of our faire langage..maister Chaucer. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 46 Þe fynder of all euels þe fende. 1487 Act 4 Hen. VII, c. 2 §1 The Kyng therof to have the on half, and the fynder the other halfe. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 81 b, The fynder of the ryght waye to heuen. 1555 Eden Decades 77 Christophorus Colonus the fyrst fynder of those landes. Ibid. 134 The Chaldeans beynge the fyrst fynders of letters. 1660 Fuller Mixt Contempl. (1841) 184 The first finders, founders, and forgers of false reports. 1711 S. Centlivre Marplot v, By Marplot's direction [I found you]; you know he's a very good finder. 1765 Blackstone Comm. i. ix. 349 Concerning treasure trove, he is..to enquire who were the finders. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit. xii. 269 Time..is the finder, the unweariable explorer. |
b. One whose occupation it is to find; spec. slang, One who picks up the refuse of the meatmarkets.
¶ In Termes de la Ley 1641, and hence in certain Dicts., erroneously said to be an early synonym for searcher (as the designation of a Custom-house official); in 14 Ric. II. cap. 10, and other statutes, the AF. tronour (trone-keeper) was misread as trovour (finder), whence the mistake.
| 1752 Low Life (1764) 16 The whole Company of Finders..are marching towards all the markets. 1839 Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. II. 129 Finders, who would search all over the country for..every appearance on the surface of a good vein of metal. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 255 Leadenhall-market..was infested..with ‘finders’. They carry bags round their necks, and pick up bones or offal. |
c. In comb. with advbs., as finder-out, † finder-up.
| c 1430 Lydg. Bochas i. ii (1544) 5 b, He [Nimrod]..was fynder up of false religion. 1553 Udall Flowers Latin Speaking (1560) 103/2 The deuiser and fynder out..of all my pleasures. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. v. ii. 131 Had I beene the finder-out of this Secret. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Pref. Wks. (1653) 1 The..first finders out of the Science. |
d. Colloq. phr. finders keepers, whoever finds something is entitled to keep it (cf. findings (are) keepings, finding vbl. n. 6).
| [1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. N. Country Words 89 No halfers—findee keepee, lossee seekee. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie W. xi. 98 According to the auld Scotch proverb of ‘he that finds keeps, And he that loses seeks’.] 1856 C. Reade Never too Late iii. xiii. 127 We have a proverb—‘Losers seekers finders keepers’. 1923 G. E. Kelly (title) Finders-Keepers. 1961 B. E. Wallace Death packs Suitcase vi. 60 In this game it's going to be finders keepers. 1969 Daily Express 17 Mar. 9/3 Where I come from it's finders keepers, losers weepers. |
2. Sporting. † A dog trained to find and bring game that has been shot; a ‘water-spaniel’, retriever (obs.). Also, one used to discover the track of, or ‘put up’, game for the sportsman.
| 1576 Fleming tr. Caius' Dogs in Arb. Garner III. 266 The Water Spaniel..is..called a Finder because..he findeth such things as be lost. 1681 Hickeringill Wks. (1716) I. 214 This Couple or pair usually Hunt together..as..a Grey-Hound and a Finder. 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) I. 54. 1803 Ann. Reg. 800 One or two small dogs called finders, whose scent is very keen, and always sure of hitting off a track. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 95 Dash..is a capital finder, and will beat a cover with any spaniel in England. |
3. A contrivance or instrument for finding. † a. An index. Obs.
| 1588 J. Mellis Brief Instr. C iv b, Vnto which Leager it shalbe necessary to ordein or make a calender, otherwise called a Repertory or a finder. |
b. A small telescope attached to the large one for the purpose of finding an object more readily.
| 1784 Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXV. 41 The finder of my reflector. 1871 tr. Schellen's Spectr. Anal. liii. 244 Janssen left the spectroscope to look for a moment through the finder, or small telescope. |
c. A microscopic slide divided by crossed lines, so that any point in the field can be identified readily.
| 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. i. iii. 187 A finder, as applied to the microscope, is the means of registering the position of any particular object in a slide. |
d. Photogr. A supplementary lens attached to a camera, to locate the object in the field of view.
| [1889 P. H. Emerson Naturalistic Photogr. i. i. (1890) 133 The handiest view finder for quick exposure work is to fit a double convex lens..to the front of the camera.] 1892 in L. de Vries Victorian Advts. (1968) 76/1 The ‘artist’, 1/4-plate camera Containing Euryscope lens working at F/6, large Finder with Hood. 1894 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. XLI. 83 Cameras..in which the finders were..carelessly fixed. 1894, etc. [see brilliant a. 1 b]. 1915 B. E. Jones Cinematograph Bk. iii. 15 A finder is provided for focusing purposes, consisting of a long narrow tube..running right across the camera and having a cap..outside. 1951 G. H. Sewell Amateur Film-Making (ed. 2) iii. 33 Generally the finder looks along a line different from the axis of the taking-lens, but parallel to it. |