"finder" meaning in English

See finder in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈfaɪndə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈfaɪndəɹ/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-finder.wav [Southern-England] Forms: finders [plural]
Rhymes: -aɪndə(ɹ) Etymology: From Middle English findere. By surface analysis, find + -er. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|findere}} Middle English findere, {{surf|en|find|-er|id2=agent noun}} By surface analysis, find + -er Head templates: {{en-noun}} finder (plural finders)
  1. One who finds or discovers something; a discoverer.
    Sense id: en-finder-en-noun-adUoqTDB
  2. A device, such as a viewfinder, used to locate a target or other object of interest.
    Sense id: en-finder-en-noun-~f3BTwi0
  3. (UK, historical) A person who picks up scraps and oddments to sell to make a living. Tags: UK, historical
    Sense id: en-finder-en-noun-ZB55tiiW Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun) Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 17 36 48 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun): 15 31 54
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "Albada finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "comet-finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "ditchfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "factfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "fact-finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "faultfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "finderlist"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "finder of fact"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "finderscope"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "fire finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "fishfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "gold-finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "key finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "object finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "pathfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "pure finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "radio direction finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "range finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "rangefinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "rootfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "statefinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "stud finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "ugly-finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "ugly finder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "viewfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "waterfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "wayfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "witchfinder"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "witch-finder"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "findere"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English findere",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "find",
        "3": "-er",
        "id2": "agent noun"
      },
      "expansion": "By surface analysis, find + -er",
      "name": "surf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English findere. By surface analysis, find + -er.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finders",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "finder (plural finders)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenations": [
    {
      "parts": [
        "find",
        "er"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              7
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Finders keepers, losers weepers.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              4,
              10
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2012, Alan R. Romero, Property Law For Dummies, page 229:",
          "text": "The finder of treasure trove owns it against the landowner and everyone else except the true owner.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One who finds or discovers something; a discoverer."
      ],
      "id": "en-finder-en-noun-adUoqTDB",
      "links": [
        [
          "find",
          "find"
        ],
        [
          "discover",
          "discover"
        ],
        [
          "discoverer",
          "discoverer"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              24,
              30
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1945, John Steinbeck, Cannery Row:",
          "text": "Perhaps some electrical finder could have been developed so delicate that it could have located the source of all this spreading joy and fortune.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A device, such as a viewfinder, used to locate a target or other object of interest."
      ],
      "id": "en-finder-en-noun-~f3BTwi0",
      "links": [
        [
          "device",
          "device"
        ],
        [
          "viewfinder",
          "viewfinder"
        ],
        [
          "locate",
          "locate"
        ],
        [
          "target",
          "target"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 36 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 31 54",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              136,
              143
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:",
          "text": "Even the Whitechapel meat-market is less the scene of prey, for it is a series of shops, while Leadenhall presents many stalls, and the finders seem loath to enter shops without some plausible pretext.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who picks up scraps and oddments to sell to make a living."
      ],
      "id": "en-finder-en-noun-ZB55tiiW",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, historical) A person who picks up scraps and oddments to sell to make a living."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "historical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfaɪndə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-finder.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1e/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-finder.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-finder.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1e/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-finder.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-finder.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfaɪndəɹ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪndə(ɹ)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "finder"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English agent nouns",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/aɪndə(ɹ)",
    "Rhymes:English/aɪndə(ɹ)/2 syllables"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "Albada finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "comet-finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "ditchfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "factfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "fact-finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "faultfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "finderlist"
    },
    {
      "word": "finder of fact"
    },
    {
      "word": "finderscope"
    },
    {
      "word": "fire finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "fishfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "gold-finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "key finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "object finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "pathfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "pure finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "radio direction finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "range finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "rangefinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "rootfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "statefinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "stud finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "ugly-finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "ugly finder"
    },
    {
      "word": "viewfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "waterfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "wayfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "witchfinder"
    },
    {
      "word": "witch-finder"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "findere"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English findere",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "find",
        "3": "-er",
        "id2": "agent noun"
      },
      "expansion": "By surface analysis, find + -er",
      "name": "surf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English findere. By surface analysis, find + -er.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "finders",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "finder (plural finders)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenations": [
    {
      "parts": [
        "find",
        "er"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              7
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Finders keepers, losers weepers.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              4,
              10
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2012, Alan R. Romero, Property Law For Dummies, page 229:",
          "text": "The finder of treasure trove owns it against the landowner and everyone else except the true owner.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One who finds or discovers something; a discoverer."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "find",
          "find"
        ],
        [
          "discover",
          "discover"
        ],
        [
          "discoverer",
          "discoverer"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              24,
              30
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1945, John Steinbeck, Cannery Row:",
          "text": "Perhaps some electrical finder could have been developed so delicate that it could have located the source of all this spreading joy and fortune.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A device, such as a viewfinder, used to locate a target or other object of interest."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "device",
          "device"
        ],
        [
          "viewfinder",
          "viewfinder"
        ],
        [
          "locate",
          "locate"
        ],
        [
          "target",
          "target"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              136,
              143
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:",
          "text": "Even the Whitechapel meat-market is less the scene of prey, for it is a series of shops, while Leadenhall presents many stalls, and the finders seem loath to enter shops without some plausible pretext.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who picks up scraps and oddments to sell to make a living."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, historical) A person who picks up scraps and oddments to sell to make a living."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "historical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfaɪndə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-finder.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1e/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-finder.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-finder.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1e/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-finder.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-finder.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfaɪndəɹ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪndə(ɹ)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "finder"
}

Download raw JSONL data for finder meaning in English (4.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-16 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.