v. 1
To find or learn something for the first time.
Turning the corner, I discovered a lovely little shop. I discovered that they sold widgets.
v. 2
To expose, uncover.
The gust of wind discovered a bone in the sand.
v. 3
To create by moving a piece out of another piece's line of attack.
This move discovers an attack on a vital pawn.
v. 4
To question (a person) as part of discovery in a lawsuit.

Related words

Is a kind of: see

Forms

Past participle: discovered
e.g. discovered → learnt, ascertained, seen, identified…

Choose the right word

Discover, Detect, Detected or Discovered?

Of human actions or character, detect is used, almost without exception, in a bad sense; discover may be used in either the good or the bad sense, oftener in the good; he was detected in a fraud; real merit is sure to be discovered.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

learn That game is easy, once you learn the basic rules.
determine The doctors couldn't determine the cause of death.
identify They were able to identify him by his wrist watch.
ascertain We will first ascertain the cause of the disaster.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
discover		rising
learn		rising
determine		falling
identify		rising
ascertain		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: see¹
4 letters: find¹, show¹, tell¹, hear¹, spot¹
5 letters: check¹, learn¹, break¹, catch¹, trace¹
6 letters: notice², strike¹, reveal², expose², detect², locate², behold², attain², betray², devise², impart², unwrap², unroll²
7 letters: witness², observe², uncover³, discern², divulge², unearth²
8 letters: identify⁴, describe², disclose², perceive², manifest³, contrive²
9 letters: determine³, recognize³, recognise³, ascertain³
11 letters: communicate⁴, distinguish³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (notice² = 2 syllables).