From Old French 'descovrir' (to uncover) — literally 'un-cover,' the metaphor that knowledge was always there, waiting.
To find or learn something for the first time; to be the first to find, observe, or learn about something.
From Middle English 'discoveren,' from Old French 'descovrir' (to uncover, to reveal), from Late Latin 'discooperīre,' from Latin 'dis-' (opposite of, removal of) + 'cooperīre' (to cover completely), from 'co-' (intensive) + 'operīre' (to cover, to shut). The original and literal meaning was 'to uncover' — to remove a covering and reveal what was hidden beneath. The modern sense of 'finding something new' developed from the idea
'Discover' is literally 'dis-cover' — to un-cover, to remove the cover from. French 'découvrir' and Spanish 'descubrir' are transparent: the prefix 'des-/dis-' reverses the action of covering. This etymology embeds a philosophical assumption: that truth, knowledge, and new lands are not created but always existed, waiting