identify

[ ahy-den-tuh-fahy, ih-den- ]

verb (used with object)

, i·den·ti·fied, i·den·ti·fy·ing.

1. to recognize or establish as being a particular person or thing; verify the identity none of:

   to identify handwriting; to identify the bearer of a check.

   Synonyms: determine, know, place, distinguish

2. to serve as a means of identification none for:

   His gruff voice quickly identified him.

3. to make, represent to be, or regard or treat as the same or identical:

   They identified Jones with the progress of the company.

4. to associate in name, feeling, interest, action, etc. (usually followed by with ):

   He preferred not to identify himself with that group.

5. Biology. to determine to what group (a given specimen) belongs.
6. Psychology. to associate (one or oneself ) with another person or a group of persons by identification none.

verb (used without object)

, i·den·ti·fied, i·den·ti·fy·ing.

1. to associate oneself in feeling, interest, action, etc., with a specified group or belief system (usually followed by as or with ):

   He identifies as bisexual. She identifies with feminism. My family identifies Hispanic.

2. to experience psychological identification:

   The audience identified with the play's characters.

identify

/ aɪˈdɛntɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to prove or recognize as being a certain person or thing; determine the identity of
2. to consider as the same or equivalent
3. also introften foll bywith to consider (oneself) as similar to another
4. to determine the taxonomic classification of (a plant or animal)
5. intrusually foll bywith psychol to engage in identification

Derived Forms

• iˈdentiˌfiable, adjective
• iˈdentiˌfiably, adverb

Other Words From

• i·denti·fia·ble adjective
• i·denti·fia·bili·ty i·denti·fia·ble·ness noun
• i·denti·fier noun
• over·i·denti·fy verb overidentified overidentifying
• prei·denti·fy verb (used with object) preidentified preidentifying
• rei·denti·fy verb (used with object) reidentified reidentifying
• uni·denti·fia·ble adjective
• uni·denti·fia·bly adverb
• uni·denti·fied adjective
• uni·denti·fying adjective
• well-i·denti·fied adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of identify¹

First recorded in 1635–45; from Medieval Latin identificāre, equivalent to identi(tās) identity none + -ficāre -fy none

Example Sentences

In their recent paper, the Ma lab identified transcription initiation sites for about 40,000 genes in soy.

From Science Daily

It also said "some departments appeared to lack central tracking systems" for appointments, and identified two "technical" breaches of the recruitment principles relating to record keeping issues.

From BBC

Dame Angela, the minister for asylum and border security, said the government was continuing to identify alternative accommodation.

From BBC

But he questioned what work the Scottish government was doing to identify foreign inmates, speaking to their countries of origin and exploring options to return them there to see out the remainder of their sentence.

From BBC

Unlike kids in the United States, hunter-gatherer children in the Congo Basin have often learned how to hunt, identify edible plants and care for babies by the tender age of six or seven.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• analyze
• classify
• describe
• determine
• diagnose
• establish
• find
• name
• pinpoint
• select
• single out
• spot