water finder
- noun
:
vara de agua
- The farmer used a water finder to locate a new source of water for his crops.
Examples
-
We had no healer for ailing animals; no water-finder when two of our wells went dry; and, worst of all, no medicine woman for the infants who sickened for lack of good water.
Fiction book (1995) -
Also, he sent heralds to towns and villages, proclaiming it forbidden under pain of death to observe practices or customs having anything to do with the Lady of Wild Things: a heavy blow to wise-women, healers, midwives, water-finders, and such, for they were all followers of the Lady.
Fiction book (1995) -
With the help of a water finder, they discovered an underground stream in their backyard.
-
He was amazed by how accurately the water finder pointed to the hidden well beneath the ground.
Synonyms
2
9.8
A forked stick used to try to find underground water or minerals
2
8.6
A forked stick that people hold to find underground water
1
9.9
A stick with two branches used to find water or minerals underground
A forked stick used to find underground water or oil by dipping down
A tool used to find water under the ground
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'water finder' is directly interpretable as 'something that finds water' from the known constituents 'water' and 'finder', so a B1 learner would infer a person or device used to locate water. The specific cultural practice (dowsing with a forked stick) is a particular instantiation but does not prevent the overall meaning from being compositionally predictable. Similar agentive compounds exist across languages, supporting transparency.
Etymology
The noun water finder comes from the old practice called 'dowsing', where a person holds a forked stick or rod and walks over the ground. When the stick suddenly dips or pulls people thought there was water below, so a water finder became the name for the tool or person who 'finds' underground water.