discovery
dis·cov·ery/dɪˈskʌv.ɹi/noun
discovery is spelled D-I-S-C-O-V-E-R-Y, 3 syllables: dis·cov·ery. The wrong spelling people search most is dicovery: about 160 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 159 of all searches for the word. Discovery is a noun meaning “Something discovered”. The plural of discovery is discoveries.
How many letters and syllables are in discovery?
| Letters | 9: D-I-S-C-O-V-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: dis·cov·ery |
| In writing | 28 times per million words; the 3,288th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, dicovery, about 160 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell discovery?
Discovery is spelled D-I-S-C-O-V-E-R-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 160 of the searches for discovery in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is discovery?
Discovery appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce discovery?
- US /dɪˈskʌv.ɹi/
- US /dɪˈskʌv.ə.ɹi/
- Australia /dɪˈskɐv.ɹi/
Discovery has 3 syllables, split dis·cov·ery in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-discovery.ogg, En-ca-discovery.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of discovery
- discoveries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does discovery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something discovered.
This latest discovery should eventually lead to much better treatments for disease.
- 2
The discovering of new things.
The purpose of the voyage was discovery.
- 3
archaicAn act of uncovering or revealing something; a revelation.
- 4
A pre-trial phase in which evidence is gathered.
The prosecution moved to suppress certain items turned up during discovery.
- 5
Materials revealed to the opposing party during the pre-trial phase in which evidence is gathered.
The defense argued that the plaintiff's discovery was inadequate.
- 6
A discovered attack.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Discovery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | découverte |
| German | Entdeckung |
| Portuguese | descoberta , descobrimento |
| Spanish | descubrimiento, hallazgo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does discovery come from?
from discover + -ery, on the pattern of the pair recover, recovery. Displaced native Old English onfundennes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).