identify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to recognize or establish as being a particular person or thing; verify the identity of.
to identify handwriting; to identify the bearer of a check.
- Synonyms:
- determine, know, place, distinguish
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to serve as a means of identification for.
His gruff voice quickly identified him.
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to make, represent to be, or regard or treat as the same or identical.
They identified Jones with the progress of the company.
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to associate in name, feeling, interest, action, etc. (usually followed bywith ).
He preferred not to identify himself with that group.
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Biology. to determine to what group (a given specimen) belongs.
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Psychology. to associate (one or oneself ) with another person or a group of persons by identification.
verb (used without object)
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to associate oneself in feeling, interest, action, etc., with a specified group or belief system (usually followed by as orwith ).
He identifies as bisexual. She identifies with feminism. My family identifies Hispanic.
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to experience psychological identification.
The audience identified with the play's characters.
verb
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to prove or recognize as being a certain person or thing; determine the identity of
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to consider as the same or equivalent
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to consider (oneself) as similar to another
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to determine the taxonomic classification of (a plant or animal)
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psychol to engage in identification
Other Word Forms
- identifiability noun
- identifiable adjective
- identifiableness noun
- identifiably adverb
- identifier noun
- overidentify verb
- preidentify verb (used with object)
- reidentify verb (used with object)
- unidentifiable adjective
- unidentifiably adverb
- unidentified adjective
- unidentifying adjective
- well-identified adjective
Etymology
Origin of identify
First recorded in 1635–45; from Medieval Latin identificāre, equivalent to identi(tās) identity + -ficāre -fy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the meantime, the project has asked landowners and stakeholders to get in touch to help shape it, as it wanted to identify 20 possible release sites.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
For instance, Grace uses his laptops, “waveform-analysis software” and Excel to prompt Rocky to identify numbers in his own language of notes and chords before eventually becoming fluent.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Cdr Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: "Since this appalling attack last week, we have been working continuously to investigate and identify those responsible."
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
Deavers now works with undergraduate students in her chemistry lab at Marian University to identify everyday sources of heavy metal exposure and share that information with the community.
From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026
Maggie can only identify half of their meals—tamales and burgers are easy, but there are also bowls filled with rice and what might be stew with cornbread.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
