identify

American  

[ahy-den-tuh-fahy, ih-den-] / aɪˈdɛn təˌfaɪ, ɪˈdɛn- /

verb (used with object)

identified, identifying

1. 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

2. to serve as a means of identification 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 bywith ).

   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.

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verb (used without object)

identified, identifying

1. 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.

2. to experience psychological identification.

   The audience identified with the play's characters.

identify British  

/ 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. to consider (oneself) as similar to another

4. to determine the taxonomic classification of (a plant or animal)

5. psychol to engage in identification

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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

Explanation

You might identify a Ming dynasty vase, a suspect in a bank robbery, or an ivory-billed woodpecker. Whatever it is, when you recognize the identity of someone or something, you identify it. The word identify is easy to...well...identify when you notice how much it looks like the word identity (a noun, meaning who or what something is). Only one consonant separates the two words in spelling ("f" vs. "t"), and they are close relatives in meaning as well. You can easily remember the meaning of identify, a verb, when you recognize that it’s just a way to express the act of establishing identity — in other words, saying who or what something is.

Example Sentences

The researchers also searched a database of drug compounds to identify medicines that affect this newly identified gene network.

From Science Daily • May 29, 2026

Quality also means having nimble executives who can identify and react to changes in a fast-moving environment.

From Barron's • May 29, 2026

The European Commission said the company had "failed to diligently identify, analyse and assess the systemic risks" of the products and the harm they could cause to consumers.

From BBC • May 28, 2026

That allows sleuths to spot suspicious activity and highlight it online, even if they can’t identify the actual traders.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

The views were so sharp you could identify Soviet planes on the ground, count the tanks and missiles.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

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