the act of discovering something
"The discovery of a new species in the rainforest sparked excitement among scientists worldwide."
something that is discovered
"The accidental discovery of gold changed the course of history overnight."
a productive insight
"The team's discovery was not just finding data, but realizing how to transform it into actionable strategies for growth."
(law) compulsory pretrial disclosure of documents relevant to a case; enables one side in a litigation to elicit information from the other side concerning the facts in the case
"The judge granted our motion for discovery, allowing us to request all medical records related to the accident before the trial begins."
Something discovered.
"The discovery was a small, rusted key found beneath the old floorboards."
In plain English: Discovery is the moment you find something new that was hidden before.
"The discovery of gold changed the lives of everyone in the small town."
Usage: Use discovery to refer to the act or process of finding something previously unknown, such as a new planet or scientific fact. Do not use it to mean an invention or creation, which should be called an innovation instead.
The word discovery comes from combining the verb discover with the suffix -ery, following a common pattern like recover and recovery. It replaced an older native English term to mean the act of finding something for the first time.