発見|はっけんhakken[0]heiban (flat)
This browser can't play pronunciations (needs Safari 18.4 or later, or Chrome / Edge / Firefox).
Definitions
- noun, suru verb, transitive verbdiscovery; detection; finding
Conjugation
| Dictionary form | 発見する（はっけんする） |
|---|---|
| Polite (masu) | 発見します（はっけんします） |
| Negative (nai) | 発見しない（はっけんしない） |
| polite (masen) | 発見しません（はっけんしません） |
| classical zu / nu | 発見せず・発見せぬ（はっけんせず・はっけんせぬ） |
| Past (ta) | 発見した（はっけんした） |
| polite (mashita) | 発見しました（はっけんしました） |
| Past negative (nakatta) | 発見しなかった（はっけんしなかった） |
| polite (masen deshita) | 発見しませんでした（はっけんしませんでした） |
| Te form | 発見して（はっけんして） |
| Potential | 発見できる（はっけんできる） |
| Passive | 発見される（はっけんされる） |
| Causative | 発見させる（はっけんさせる） |
| Causative passive | 発見させられる（はっけんさせられる） |
| Conditional (ba) | 発見すれば（はっけんすれば） |
| tara | 発見したら（はっけんしたら） |
| Volitional | 発見しよう（はっけんしよう） |
| polite (mashou) | 発見しましょう（はっけんしましょう） |
| Imperative | 発見しろ（はっけんしろ） |
Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.
Synonyms & antonyms
- Synonym見出すみいだすWrittenWritten style: to pick out and bring to light something valuable from among many, as in 「才能を見出す」; 「発見」 centers on finding the unknown or what one is looking for.
- Synonym見つけるみつけるNeutralThe everyday word for finding or spotting something, with a very broad range; 「発見」 is weightier, covering both finding what you seek and discovering the unknown.
- Synonym検出けんしゅつWrittenFormal: detecting components, viruses and the like through testing, as in 「ウイルスを検出」; 「発見」 is not limited to detection by testing.
- Synonym見つけ出すみつけだすNeutralTo search out someone or something hidden or missing, implying real effort; 「発見」 need not involve a search and can be a chance discovery.
- Synonym検知けんちWrittenFormal: detection by a machine or sensor, as in 「煙を検知する」; 「発見」 usually means a person finding things or facts.
- Related気づくきづくNeutralTo notice or become aware of a state or change; 「発見」 is finding a concrete thing or fact.
- Related突き止めるつきとめるNeutralTo investigate to the very end and pin down a cause or culprit; 「発見」 can be a chance encounter and need not involve any investigation.
- Related探知たんちWrittenFormal and technical: detecting by scouting or with equipment, as in 「レーダーで探知」; 「発見」 is not restricted to any particular means.
- Related悟るさとるWrittenWritten: to grasp a truth or principle, stressing inner understanding; 「発見」 is finding things, facts, or patterns.
- Related知るしるNeutralThe broadest of these words: to learn of or know something; 「発見」 stresses finding out through searching or observation.
- Related認識にんしきWrittenWritten: clearly recognizing and grasping a thing or fact, stressing cognition; 「発見」 is about finding out, and the two overlap when it comes to perceiving facts.
- Related理解りかいNeutralTo understand the meaning or content of something, stressing comprehension; 「発見」 is finding something you did not know or were looking for.
- Related察知さっちWrittenWritten: to sense something by inferring from signs, as in 「危険を察知」; 「発見」 is actually finding it.
- Related感知かんちWrittenWritten: perceiving through the senses or by a device, staying at the level of sensation; 「発見」 stresses finding something out.
- Related探し出すさがしだすNeutralTo find something by searching, stressing the process of the hunt; 「発見」 focuses on the result of having found it.
- Related探し当てるさがしあてるNeutralTo finally find something after searching all over, stressing that the search has paid off; 「発見」 centers on the result and can also be a chance find.
- Related看取かんしゅWrittenA rare written word for making out or seeing through a situation; 「見て取る」 is the usual choice, and unlike 「発見」 it is not about finding.
- Related探り当てるさぐりあてるNeutralTo find or make out something by groping and probing, as in 「手探りで探り当てる」; 「発見」 does not stress a process of feeling around.
- Related嗅ぎ出すかぎだすNeutralTo sniff out something hidden from its smell or telltale signs, with an investigative nuance that 「発見」 lacks.
- Related嗅ぎつけるかぎつけるNeutralTo get wind of a rumor or secret, as in 「記者が嗅ぎつける」; 「発見」 means actually finding something.
- Related見て取るみてとるWrittenTo read a situation or someone's expression at a glance, stressing insight; 「発見」 is finding things or facts, including tracking down a missing person.
- Related探り出すさぐりだすNeutralTo dig or worm out secrets and information, carrying a sense of covert probing that 「発見」 does not have.
- Related見とるみとるCasualColloquial and rare: to make out or grasp something by looking; 「見て取る」 is the usual word, and unlike 「発見」 it is not about finding.
- Related思い至るおもいいたるWrittenWritten: to come to realize something after working through one's thoughts; 「発見」 is finding things, facts, or new ideas.
- Antonym見失うみうしなうNeutralAntonym: to lose sight of something and all trace of where it went, the opposite of the finding that 「発見」 describes.
Use 「発見」 for finding things or facts, as in 「新種を発見」. For everyday finding, say 「見つける」; for detection by instruments, 「検出」 or 「検知」; for pinning down a cause or culprit, 「突き止める」; for becoming aware of something, 「気づく」. The search verbs 「探し出す」, 「探し当てる」 and 「見つけ出す」 stress the hunt, while 「発見」 centers on the result; sensing words like 「察知」 and 「感知」 stay at the level of noticing rather than finding.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese definitions
Kanji in this word
English equivalents
See also
