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.

---

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

---

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

It isn’t always easy to identify every cost.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026

One of its projects is to identify which plants are most effective for supporting pollinators including bees, wasps, butterflies and moths.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

The deal is a sign of how technology giants are trying to identify new power-supply options that could support their ambitious goals for artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

In many cases, scientists can quickly identify these finds by sharing knowledge and collaborating.

From Science Daily • Apr. 27, 2026

The complex math that continuously ran through her head tended to make her socially awkward, but also let her identify patterns where everyone else saw chaos.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Related Words

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