2022-02-08 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – D - discover & invent

Revision D

2022-02-08

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – D - discover & invent

แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น 

ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค

 

Dictionary.com:

ออกเสียง discover = “dih-SKUHV-er”

ออกเสียง invent = “in-VENT”

 

Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:

discover & invent   

Discover means 

“to get knowledge of,” 

“to find out,” 

“to learn of something previously unknown” 

(discover America, discover uranium).

To invent is 

“to originate,” 

“to conceive of or devise first”: 

“invent the sewing machine."

Synonyms for discover, none of which apply to the basic meaning of invent, are detect, discern, notice, ferret out and espy. 

 

The A-Z of Correct English Common Errors in English Dictionary:

discover & invent

You DISCOVER something that has been there all the timeunknown to you (e.g. a star).

You INVENT something if you create it for the first time 

(e.g. a time machine).

 

Dictionary.com:

SYNONYM STUDY FOR DISCOVER

Discover, Invent, Originate 

suggest bringing to light something previously unknown.

 

To discover may be to find something that had previously existed 

but had hitherto been unknown: 

to discover a new electricity; 

it may also refer to devising a new use for something already known: 

to discover how to make synthetic rubber. 

 

To invent is to make or create something new,

especially something ingeniously devised

to perform mechanical operations: 

to invent a device for detecting radioactivity. 

 

To originate is to begin something new, 

especially new ideas, methods, etc.: 

to originate a political movement, 

the use of assembly-line techniques.

 

Dictionary.com:

MORE ABOUT DISCOVER

What does discover mean?

To discover is to find or find out about something for the first time.

Discovering involves locating or gaining knowledge about 

something that was previously unknown or unseen.

 

The word is especially associated with finding new places 

(as in discovering new lands) 

and scientific breakthroughs (as in discovering a cure).

 

Something that’s discovered in this way is called a discovery. 

The adjective undiscovered is used 

to describe something that has never been found, 

as in 

Even in the modern age, 

there are still probably a few undiscovered places. 

 

The word discover also has few a more basic senses: 

to notice or realize 

(as in When I went to open the door, I discovered that I had lost my key); 

to encounter for the first time 

(as in I remember when I discovered my love of coffee); 

and to find after research or inspection 

(as in I discovered the bug in the code).

Example: 

Ancient Oceanic peoples discovered new methods of seafaring that allowed them to discover and settle faraway islands.

 

Dictionary.com:

Where does discover come from?

The first records of the word discover come from the 1300s.

It comes from the Late Latin discooperīre, 

meaning “to disclose” or “to expose.” 

The prefix dis- indicates a reversal. 

The prefix un- in uncover means just about the same thing, but discover and uncover are typically used in different ways.

 

When something is discovered, 

it doesn’t necessarily mean that it had been covered or hidden. 

 

Though its use can sometimes overlap with discover,

the word uncover typically means something different

—“to expose” or “to reveal.” 

 

To discover a conspiracy is to find out that it exists, 

but to uncover it is to reveal it.

 

Discovering something involves

seeing it, learning of it, or encountering it for the first time. 

 

History books are filled with examples

of people credited with having discovered a new place 

even though it was already inhabited, 

or of people credited with having made some kind of 

scientific or technological breakthrough 

when in fact it was known about for a long time by someone else 

or by people in another part of the world. 

 

In cases like this, the so-called discoverer 

didn’t really discover the thing so much as found it again.

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Choose the Right Synonym for discover

Discover, Ascertain, Determine, Unearth, Learn 

mean to find out what one did not previously know.

Discover may apply to something requiring exploration or investigation or to a chance encounter.  

discovered the source of the river

Ascertain implies effort to find the facts or the truth proceeding from awareness of ignorance or uncertainty.  

attempts to ascertain the population of the region

Determine emphasizes the intent to establish the facts definitely or precisely.  

unable to determine the origin of the word

Unearth implies bringing to light something forgotten or hidden.       unearth old records

Learn may imply acquiring knowledge with little effort or conscious intention (as by simply being told) or it may imply study and practice.  

I learned her name only today   

learning Greek 

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Word History

The Synonyms 'Discover' and 'Invent'

In the past, you could invent fruit.

Today, the word invent is chiefly associated with 

creating or producing something for the first time.

But it did not originate in that sense. 

In its youth, it was used like discover 

to mean "to come upon" or "to find," 

and the two words were used synonymously 

through much of the 16th to 19th centuries.

 

Discover entered English in the 14th century, 

and it too was used in senses not readily understood by modern ears.

Early uses of the word 

relate to the literal uncovering of something concealed 

or to revealing something unknown to others, 

as these quotes from the Bard illustrate.

 

Another early use of discover was in regard 

to catching sight of something especially for the first time,

such as espying land after being out to sea.

 

It is this use of discover, 

referring to the finding of something by one's own observation 

(as opposed to finding out through another's), 

that led to today's familiar sense of the word. 

 

By the 16th century, 

discover came to imply that 

a person was the first to find or observe something 

that was previously unknown to others.

 

This use of discover coincided with the original sense of invent, 

which ventured into the English language in the 15th century.

The two words were used interchangeably 

until toward the end of the 18th century, 

when two other senses of invent began to flourish: 

its meanings of "to devise by thinking" 

and "to produce for the first time through use of the imagination 

or ingenious thinking."

18th-century Scottish rhetorician Hugh Blair 

was cognizant of this shift in meaning for invent 

and distinguished it from discover in a lecture:

 

Decades later, 

it appears confusion over how to use the two words was still evident. 

 

So much so that American lexicographer 

Noah Webster echoed Blair in his 1828 dictionary:

Nowadays, invent and discover are rarely if ever confused 

and do not call for usage guidance. 

For the most part, 

it's clear by context which word should be used. 

However, there are cases in which discover is used in place of invent 

to suggest the accidental or unexpected creation of something new.

 

Collins COBUILD English Usage:

Invent -  discover

1. 'invent'

If someone invents something new, 

they are the first person to think of it or make it.

Walter Hunt and Elias Howe invented the sewing machine.

 

2. 'discover'

You do not use 'invent' 

to say that someone finds out about something which exists 

but which was not previously known. 

The word you use is discover.

Herschel discovered a new planet.

Having found these fragments, the team of researchers discovered a way to date them.