identify definition

English

Etymology

From French identifier, from Medieval Latin identicus + Latin faciō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪˈdɛn.tɪ.faɪ/, /ɪˈdɛn.tɪ.faɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: iden‧ti‧fy

Verb

identify (third-person singular simple present identifies, present participle identifying, simple past and past participle identified)

1. (transitive) To establish the identity of someone or something.

   It was hard to identify the shoplifter because the CCTV records didn't have a clear image.

   • 1953, Enforcement Regulations of the Name Act:

     The formal name of a national having domiciliary register shall be identified by the national identity card.

2. (transitive) To disclose the identity of someone.

   The Associated Press will not identify the suspect of the crime because he is a juvenile.

3. (transitive, biology) To establish the taxonomic classification of an organism.
   • 2000, Bill Clinton, Proclamation 7319:

     A recent biological inventory uncovered 41 species and 2 subspecies of insects new to science and many species not before identified in the State of Washington.

4. (transitive) To equate or make the same; to unite or combine into one.
   • 1809, David Ramsay, History of South Carolina‎^[1], volume II, page 80:

     Every precaution is taken to identify the interests of the people, and their rulers.

   • 18 February, 1780, Edmund Burke, Speech on Economical Reform

     Let us identify, let us incorporate ourselves with the people.

5. (reflexive) To have a strong affinity with; to feel oneself to be modelled on or connected to.
   • 1999 [1899], Sigmund Freud, translated by Joyce Crick, Die Traumdeutung [The Interpretation of Dreams], Oxford, published 2008, page 117:

     Der Traum erhält eine neue Deutung, wenn sie im Traum nicht sich, sondern die Freundin meint, wenn sie sich an die Stelle der Freundin gesetzt oder, wie wir sagen können, sich mit ihr identifiziert hat.

     The dream is given a new interpretation if in her dream she means not herself but her friend, if she has put herself in the place of her friend, or, as we may say, she has identified herself with her.

   • 2012, Christoper Zara, chapter 1, in Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds‎^[2], part 1, page 29:

     Cash endures because his most well-known songs—“I Walk the Line” and “Ring of Fire” among them—weave deeply personal narratives with which listeners of all stripes can effortlessly identify.

6. (intransitive) To associate oneself with some group; to feel, or believe one feels, the same way.
   • 1983, Presidential Radio Address - 26 February 1983:

     Now, the vast majority of us identify with the second group, the one that believes in trusting the wisdom of the people rather than taking power away from them and concentrating it in the other hands.

7. (reflexive, with as) To claim an identity; to describe oneself as a member of a group; to assert the use of a particular term to describe oneself.
   • 2010 February 6, “Youth Who Self-Identify as Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual at Higher Suicide Risk, Say Researchers”, in Science Daily‎^[3]:

     "The main message is that it's the interface between individuals and society that causes students who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual the most distress," said study first author Yue Zhao.

Synonyms

• ID

Coordinate terms

• authenticate (coordinate in IP networking sense)

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• “identify”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “identify”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “identify”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.