treasure [ME] This came through Old French from Greek thēsauros ‘treasure, store, storehouse’, also the source of *thesaurus. A treasure trove [LME] is now a collection of valuable or pleasing things that is found unexpectedly, but it originally referred to valuables of unknown ownership that were found hidden, which were legally the property of the Crown. The term came from Anglo-Norman French tresor trové meaning literally ‘found treasure’.