identifier

American  

[ahy-den-tuh-fahy-er, i-den-] / aɪˈdɛn təˌfaɪ ər, ɪˈdɛn- /

noun

plural

identifiers

1. something, such as a name, number, code, label, etc., that serves to identify or represent a person or thing.

2. a book, computer application, or other source that one can use to identify something, such as a bird, plant, etc., by matching it with a sound, photo, or description in an inventory.

3. a person who identifies someone or something.

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Other Word Forms

• de-identifier noun
• non-identifier noun
• quasi-identifier noun
• self-identifier noun
• sub-identifier noun

Example Sentences

The anonymous account had a blockchain identifier of letters and numbers.

From BBC • Jan. 5, 2026

The artist’s last name is written in block letters along one edge, but there’s some confusion over whether the artist or the school added it later as an identifier.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2025

She doesn’t use it as Nessa’s identifier but instead, uses it to poke fun at people’s misplaced assumptions of Nessa.

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2024

It serves, so to speak, as an identifier for the body cells.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2024

In the spot where the identifier should have been, there were instead a censor’s thick black box and the words “I.D. Temporarily Removed from System.”

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein