An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/finden

by Friedrich Kluge

finden, vb., ‘to find, discover; deem, consider,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vinden, OHG. findan; comp. Goth. finþan, OIc. finna, AS. findan, E. to find, OSax. fîthan, findan, ‘to find.’ Teut. fenþ, as a str. verbal root from pre-Teut. root pent; akin to OHG. fęndo, m., ‘pedestrian,’ AS. fêþa, ‘foot-soldier,’ OHG. funden, ‘to hasten’?. Some etymologists adduce Lat. invenire and OSlov. na iti, ‘to find,’ to show by analogy that from a verb of ‘going’ the meaning ‘find’ can be evolved. With the Teut. root fenþ the equiv. OIr. root ét- (from pent-) is most closely connected.