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

• iˈdentiˌfiably, adverb
• iˈdentiˌfiable, adjective

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

Correctly identifying such trends means being able to plan in advance and then taking advantage of heightened interest.

From Search Engine Watch

Reporters Sapien and Sanders worked with Willis to identify several high-ranking NYPD commanders who had been promoted again and again despite long records of serious civilian complaints.

From ProPublica

First, the team worked to identify whether they had assigned the most relevant URLs for the keywords.

From Search Engine Watch

If scientists are able to identify an immune correlate of protection, however, “and you can demonstrate that kids get that with the vaccine, that’s even more satisfying,” O’Leary said.

From ProPublica

The funds were to be transferred to the CPUC quarterly, but the CPUC didn’t try to identify whether any of that money was outstanding.

From ProPublica

We have thousands of users who identify themselves as transgendered and they are welcome members of the Grindr community.

From The Daily Beast

He loves the fact that, like on Grindr, users can identify as transgender.

From The Daily Beast

But most likely it was linked to the way priests identify with the poor in the face of government and criminal abuses.

From The Daily Beast

Certainly my instinct is to identify with the police, no matter the circumstance.

From The Daily Beast

The others are difficult to identify, since they reacted with other oxygen-bearing molecules in the soil.

From The Daily Beast

Ordinarily, no attempt is made to identify any but the tubercle bacillus and the gonococcus.

From Project Gutenberg

All the same, she was quite at a loss to know how she was to identify the General Maxgregor when he did come.

From Project Gutenberg

In some cases proper evidence may be used to identify things where the description in the will is ambiguous.

From Project Gutenberg

The thing bequeathed must be described with sufficient clearness to identify it, nothing more is required.

From Project Gutenberg

However, both let it pass, and no one through the whole school attempted to identify it.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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