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  • id
    id
    noun
    the part of the psyche, residing in the unconscious, that is the source of instinctive impulses that seek satisfaction in accordance with the pleasure principle and are modified by the ego and the superego before they are given overt expression.
  • ID
    ID
    noun
    a means of identification, as a card or bracelet containing official or approved identification information.
  • I'd
    I'd
    contraction of I had:
  • -id
    -id
    a suffix of nouns that have the general sense “offspring of, descendant of,” occurring originally in loanwords from Greek (Atreid; Nereid ), and productive in English on the Greek model, especially in names of dynasties, with the dynasty's founder as the base noun (Abbasid; Attalid ), and in names of periodic meteor showers, with the base noun usually denoting the constellation or other celestial object in which the shower appears (Perseid ).
  • id.
    id.
    abbreviation
    idem.
  • Id.
    Id.
    abbreviation
    Idaho.
  • ID.
    ID.
    abbreviation
    (in Iraq ) dinar; dinars.
  • I.D.
    I.D.
    abbreviation
    identification.
Synonyms

id

1 American  
[id] / ɪd /

noun

Psychoanalysis.
  • ids
    plural
  1. the part of the psyche, residing in the unconscious, that is the source of instinctive impulses that seek satisfaction in accordance with the pleasure principle and are modified by the ego and the superego before they are given overt expression.


ID 2 American  
[ahy-dee] / ˈaɪˈdi /

noun

  1. a means of identification, as a card or bracelet containing official or approved identification information.


verb (used with object)

ID'd, IDed, ID'ed, ID'ing, IDing
  1. to identify.

  2. to issue an ID to.

    Go to the admissions office if you haven't been ID'd yet.

ID 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. Idaho (approved especially for use with zip code).

  2. infectious disease.

  3. inner diameter, internal diameter, or inside diameter. Also i.d.

  4. intellectual disability.

  5. intelligent design.


I'd 4 American  
[ahyd] / aɪd /
  1. contraction of I had:

    I'd never seen anything like it before!

  2. contraction of I would:

    If I were you, I'd be careful what I wish for.


-id 5 American  
  1. a suffix of nouns that have the general sense “offspring of, descendant of,” occurring originally in loanwords from Greek (Atreid; Nereid ), and productive in English on the Greek model, especially in names of dynasties, with the dynasty's founder as the base noun (Abbasid; Attalid ), and in names of periodic meteor showers, with the base noun usually denoting the constellation or other celestial object in which the shower appears (Perseid ).


-id 6 American  
  1. a suffix occurring in English derivatives of modern Latin taxonomic names, especially zoological families and classes; such derivatives are usually nouns denoting a single member of the taxon or adjectives with the sense “pertaining to” the taxon: arachnid; canid .


-id 7 American  
  1. variant of -ide: lipid .


-id 8 American  
  1. a suffix occurring in descriptive adjectives borrowed from Latin, often corresponding to nouns ending in -or1 : fetid; humid; pallid .


id. 9 American  

abbreviation

  1. idem.


Id. 10 American  

abbreviation

  1. Idaho.


ID. 11 American  

abbreviation

  1. (in Iraq ) dinar; dinars.


I.D. 12 American  

abbreviation

  1. identification.

  2. identity.

  3. Military. Infantry Division.

  4. Intelligence Department.


-id 1 British  

suffix

  1. indicating the names of meteor showers that appear to radiate from a specified constellation

    Orionids (from Orion)

  2. indicating a particle, body, or structure of a specified kind

    energid

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

-id 2 British  

suffix

  1. a variant of -ide

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

ID 3 British  

abbreviation

  1. Idaho

  2. identification (document)

  3. Also: i.d. inside diameter

  4. Intelligence Department

  5. Also: i.d. intradermal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

id. 4 British  

abbreviation

  1. idem

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

-id 5 British  

suffix

  1. indicating members of a zoological family

    cyprinid

  2. indicating members of a dynasty

    Seleucid

    Fatimid

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

id 6 British  

abbreviation

  1. Indonesia

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Id. 7 British  

abbreviation

  1. Idaho

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

id 8 British  
/ ɪd /

noun

  1. psychoanal the mass of primitive instincts and energies in the unconscious mind that, modified by the ego and the superego, underlies all psychic activity

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

I'd 9 British  
/ aɪd /

contraction

  1. I had or I would

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

id Cultural  
  1. In Freudian theory, the part of the psyche associated with instinctual, repressed, or antisocial desires, usually sexual or aggressive. In its efforts to satisfy these desires, the id comes into conflict with the social and practical constraints enforced by the ego and superego. (See also pleasure principle.)


Usage

See contraction.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of id1

1920–25; < Latin id it, as a translation of German Es, special use of es it, as a psychoanalytic term

Origin of ID2

First recorded in 1935–40

Origin of I'd4

First recorded in 1590–1600

Origin of -id5

< Latin -id-, stem of -is < Greek: feminine patronymic suffix; or < Latin -idēs < Greek: masculine patronymic suffix

Origin of -id6

< Greek -idēs -id 1, as singular of New Latin -ida -ida or -idae -idae

Origin of -id8

From the Latin suffix -idus

Origin of I.D.12

First recorded in 1950–55


Explanation

Use the word id when you talk about the most basic, impulsive part of a person's mind. A baby's instincts for food and comfort, for example, are controlled by her id. In psychology, particularly in psychoanalysis, the mind is divided into three basic parts. The most instinctive of these is the id, the drives for pleasure, food, sex, and aggression. The id is the most chaotic and least organized part of the mind, controlled in a healthy person by the ego and superego. The word id is a Latin translation of the "Es" in Sigmund Freud's "Das Ich und das Es." Both Es and id mean "it."

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing id

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.

See Examples For:

Even Sigmund Freud’s conception of a wild, uninhibited id struggling against the superego was influenced by the emerging discipline of brain science—specifically, the Scottish neurologist and psychologist David Ferrier’s theory of inhibition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

He meets Janine, his equal in appetite and id, sending him into a tailspin of yearning and loops of Sky Ferreira’s “Everything Is Embarrassing” on sadboi walks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

I don’t know whether to call that projection, unleashing the id or saying the unsayable — but it’s awesome T-shirt material, am I right?

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

You can also get your fossil identified by sending pictures to the British Geological Survey or the Natural History Museum id unit.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026

“My lord,” Grover said, “please, you must come back with me! The Elders will never believe id They’ll be overjoyed! You can save the wild!”

From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan

No different than those doctors’ offices that ask you for your ID and insurance card as soon you approach the counter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

I saw R.E.M. for the first time the night I graduated high school in 1981, when I took myself and my fake ID to a club in Mt.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

The PIN would come from ID such as a driver’s license or could be provided by the county.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

There is no connection between voter ID laws and congressional stock trading.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

Everyone in Holland had to carry ID now, with their photograph, fingerprints and other personal details.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

As an adult, I have cousins I haven’t seen in so long I’m not sure I’d recognize them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

"I would find that I'd be down these really deep rabbit holes... it was like no matter how hard you tried to get out, you couldn't."

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Speaking to reporters at the White House Friday, the president said he told her “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider.”

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026

I’d go to the Nuart all the time, too.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

And normally I would be somewhat amused by it, but right now, I’d love to put her on mute.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Chrysalis or -id: applied specifically to the intermedial stage between larva and adult in butterflies: see pupa.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith

It was the essential nature of the marriage right, discussed at length in Zablocki, see id., at 383-387, that made apparent the law’s incompatibility with requirements of equality.

From MSNBC ● Jun. 26, 2015

It was the essential nature of the marriage right, discussed at length in Zablocki, see id., at 383–387, that made apparent the law’s incompatibility with requirements of equality.

From Time ● Jun. 26, 2015

“If you look at it in Freudian terms, it’s like the id. It’s this unmasked side of ourselves,” he says.

From Time ● Apr. 17, 2014

The court found that the appellant “plainly manifested,” id. at 17, an expectation that his email would not be scrutinized.

From Forbes ● Feb. 8, 2011

For the full description of the garb, see id., ii. 71-75; J. R. Forster, Observations made during a Voyage round the World, pp. 450-453.

From The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead Vol. II by Sir James George Frazer

Curtis introduced the manager of the Magic Lantern Cinema of Ketchum, Id., who spoke about being traumatized by John Carpenter’s original “Halloween,” Curtis’ breakout role.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2021

Local bans on personal fireworks have also been implemented in Montana's Yellowstone National Park and other cities like Boise, Id. and Santa Fe, N.M., are working to follow suit.

From Fox News ● Jul. 4, 2021

For a picture of Tiberius as he appeared in his old age at Capreae, "hated of all and hating," see Id. 90-97.

From Seekers after God by F. W. (Frederic William) Farrar

See Davis to Lee, Id., vol. lii. pt. ii. p.

From Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, Volume 2 November 1863-June 1865 by Jacob Dolson Cox

As to brigaders, see Halleck to Grant, Id., p.

From Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, Volume 2 November 1863-June 1865 by Jacob Dolson Cox

You can also put his documents in a safe place, ID.; verification of all current income, including Social Security and records of assets.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

“They took my ID. They took my medication. They took my tent. They took all my clothes and blankets. They took my parents’ ashes,” Varghese said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026

“And obviously I couldn't do face ID. So it was a question of having a passcode.”

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2024

“In many cases, a lot of these people have lost their ID. They’re unable to go to the bank. They’re unable to get their bank cards,” Ramirez said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023

“Everything got very quiet. There was two hundred dollars in it, and all of Bunny’s ID. The policeman who’d found it said, ‘I think we’d better contact this boy’s family.’

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

The island’s owners, brothers Andrew, James and Peter Buttle, their company Whakaari Management Ltd. and tour operators I.D.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 10, 2023

He returned with my I.D. and a freshly printed ticket, and informed me that I had 15 days to plead not guilty.

From Slate ● Jun. 21, 2023

The studio motored along, with a new class of top artists such as Jhene Aiko, Lizzo, Marcus Mumford and acclaimed hip-hop producer No I.D. coming through to create.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2023

“He’s got 95 percent name I.D., but most people don’t know who he is,” said one Pence adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss campaign strategy.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 19, 2023

Still he ignored me, so I asked for his I.D.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Like the first silent performers, the animated Minions are mutely expressive ids designed to play like gangbusters around the globe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

And that in whatever jazzy afterlife exists for wayward novelists, they’re up there ashing carelessly into their martinis, and letting ids and peckish wildcats run free.

From New York Times ● Nov. 25, 2023

They’re not dealing just with X’s and O’s but also with ids and egos.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2021

The industry is on a journey and there will be browser-based proposals that do not need individual user ids and ID-based proposals that are based on consent and first party relationships.

From The Verge ● Apr. 16, 2021

Weismann believes that in an egg, while it is preparing for its first division, the ids are arranged in two groups—an active army and a reserve army.

From The Biological Problem of To-day Preformation Or Epigenesis? The Basis of a Theory of Organic Development by Oscar Hertwig

Investigators later ID’d a 17-year-old as their suspect.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025

I ID’d the Cargylls by consulting various online resources after I watched the episode screener.

From New York Times ● Oct. 16, 2022

You’ve been doing it for the last year or so where people are just walking around ID’d as being Facebook contractors and they’re just capturing what they see with sensors on their glasses.

From The Verge ● Nov. 1, 2021

“I hadn’t ID’d this as something strange until he asked me,” Emmons recalled.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 9, 2021

SAT Taste apples and other fall fruits and learning about growing them, get your mystery apples ID’d, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2016

She also ID’ed the man’s hand in the video as her husband’s, according to Newsweek.

From Fox News ● Jul. 15, 2019

The hacker was first ID'ed as a member of LulzSec last month, when private chat logs were leaked to the press.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2011

But beware of merely ID’ing a tree, snapping a pic and moving on.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2023

In a tweet sent Wednesday, Scott-Railton said that details surfaced by other online sleuths had led “to high-confidence ID’ing of more troubling characters” and were referred to the FBI.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2021

“As we started ID’ing people,” says Schulte, “we realized there weren’t a lot of people who had moved.”

From Slate ● Jan. 4, 2012

Zachs with an H and Zacks with a K. All these men have lived in my phone contacts, unceremoniously IDed with the last name “Hinge” like ear tags on cattle monitored for progress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2022

The user also tested it out and found some poor results: “One of my harvestman photos was IDed as a jumping spider, one as a termite, and another one as a crane fly.”

From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2022

New York State plans to approve as many as three casino licenses for the city, and operators and politicians have IDed Times Square as a potential location.

From Slate ● May 26, 2022

Kevin Sheekey, the campaign manager, wrote on Twitter that “3 is the total number of NDAs that have been IDed over thirty+ years pertaining directly” to Mr. Bloomberg.

From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2020

This must be the vial he’d IDed as Isaac.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

Another study found that PictureThis worked better than other apps at identifying 17 toxic plants, but it still wasn’t exactly great, IDing 59 percent of them correctly.

From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2022

Or are some so insulated that they don’t know you don’t have to start every text by IDing yourself?

From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2018

“Without it you were stuck with somehow IDing these voters.”

From Slate ● May 8, 2012

When campaigns set out to identify voters’ preferences, what canvassers call IDing, they try to reach people on their home phone line or at their doorstep, because that’s where they’re registered to vote.

From Slate ● May 8, 2012

Wallace wound up the piece by IDing Gastroenterologist as a virtuoso response to the blue flow and schizoid flip of the Tube in its own terms.

From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2012

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