discoverer

noun

1. One who discovers: a person who has discovered something.

   “[W]hen the flowꝛes there haue been ſufficiently wꝛought, they [bees] ſend abꝛoade their diſcouerers to finde out moꝛe foode.”

   “The ſpecies of elaſtic fluid, which its great diſcoverer, Dr. Prieſtley, denominated the dephlogiſticated nitrous air, and others have ſince called gazeous oxyd of azot, is in general not unknown to chemiſts, though they are unacquainted with its compoſition, its moſt extraordinary effects, and probably with its perfect preparation.”

   “[M]any of the most successful discoverers of metallic wealth have been entirely ignorant of the methods by which a great mine should be opened, developed, and worked.”

   “But this was subterfuge to defeat the curiosity of a chance discoverer.”