identifier

American  

[ahy-den-tuh-fahy-er, i-den-] / aɪˈdɛn təˌfaɪ ər, ɪˈdɛn- /

noun

plural

identifiers

1. something, such as a name, number, code, label, etc., that serves to identify or represent a person or thing.

2. a book, computer application, or other source that one can use to identify something, such as a bird, plant, etc., by matching it with a sound, photo, or description in an inventory.

3. a person who identifies someone or something.

---

Other Word Forms

• de-identifier noun
• non-identifier noun
• quasi-identifier noun
• self-identifier noun
• sub-identifier noun

Example Sentences

The artist’s last name is written in block letters along one edge, but there’s some confusion over whether the artist or the school added it later as an identifier.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2025

These details along with someone's IP address - the unique identifier used by internet devices - were previously prohibited by Google for ad targeting.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2025

The U.S. government is no longer issuing identification documents with an “X” identifier, which could impact some intersex individuals, Lorshbough said.

From Salon • Feb. 12, 2025

It serves, so to speak, as an identifier for the body cells.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2024

In the spot where the identifier should have been, there were instead a censor’s thick black box and the words “I.D. Temporarily Removed from System.”

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein