Table of Contents
Definition of Discovery
(noun) A formerly unknown idea or object.
Example of Discovery
Discovery Pronunciation
Syllabification: dis·cov·er·y
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /di-skUHv-uhr-ree/
- British English – /dis-kUHv-uh-ree/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /dᵻˈskəv(ə)ri/
- British English – /dᵻˈskʌv(ə)ri/
Usage Notes
- Plural: discoveries
- An individual who (verb) discovers a discovery is a (noun) discoverer.
Additional Information
- Word origin of “discovery” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Ogburn, William F. 1922. Social Change with Respect to Culture and Human Nature. New York: Viking Press.
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
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Jary, David, and Julia Jary. 2000. Collins Dictionary of Sociology. 3rd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).
Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Discovery
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “discovery.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved February 9, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/discovery/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
discovery. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/discovery/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “discovery.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed February 9, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/discovery/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“discovery.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 9 Feb. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/discovery/>.