retrieve: [15] To retrieve something is etymologically to ‘re-find’ it. The word comes from retreuv-, the stem of Old French retrover. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix re- ‘again’ and trover ‘find’ (ancestor of modern French trouver and source of English troubadour and trove, as in treasure trove). Its original application in English was to dogs refinding game that had been temporarily lost (hence the term retriever [15]). => troubadour, trove[retrieve etymology, retrieve origin, 英语词源]