identify

[ahy-den-tuh-fahy, ih-den-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR identify ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), i·den·ti·fied, i·den·ti·fy·ing.

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.

to serve as a means of identification for: His gruff voice quickly identified him.

to make, represent to be, or regard or treat as the same or identical: They identified Jones with the progress of the company.

to associate in name, feeling, interest, action, etc. (usually followed by with): He preferred not to identify himself with that group.

Biology. to determine to what group (a given specimen) belongs.

Psychology. to associate (one or oneself) with another person or a group of persons by identification.

verb (used without object), i·den·ti·fied, i·den·ti·fy·ing.

to associate oneself in feeling, interest, action, etc., with a specified group or belief system (usually followed by as or with): He identifies as bisexual. She identifies with feminism. My family identifies Hispanic.

to experience psychological identification: The audience identified with the play's characters.

Nearby words

Origin of identify

1635–45; < Medieval Latin identificāre, equivalent to identi(tās) identity + -ficāre -fy

SYNONYMS FOR identify

1. distinguish, place, know, determine.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR identify ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

i·den·ti·fi·a·ble, adjectivei·den·ti·fi·a·bil·i·ty, i·den·ti·fi·a·ble·ness, nouni·den·ti·fi·er, nouno·ver·i·den·ti·fy, verb, o·ver·i·den·ti·fied, o·ver·i·den·ti·fy·ing.

pre·i·den·ti·fy, verb (used with object), pre·i·den·ti·fied, pre·i·den·ti·fy·ing.re·i·den·ti·fy, verb (used with object), re·i·den·ti·fied, re·i·den·ti·fy·ing.un·i·den·ti·fi·a·ble, adjectiveun·i·den·ti·fi·a·bly, adverbun·i·den·ti·fied, adjectiveun·i·den·ti·fy·ing, adjectivewell-i·den·ti·fied, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for identify

He loves the fact that, like on Grindr, users can identify as transgender.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Certainly my instinct is to identify with the police, no matter the circumstance.
A Veteran’s View: NYC Cold War Between Cops and City Hall|Matt Gallagher|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The others are difficult to identify, since they reacted with other oxygen-bearing molecules in the soil.
Methane on Mars: Life or Just Gas?|Matthew R. Francis|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The idea was to identify what they are and apply them to different snacks, beverages, and foods.
The Science of Ingredient Innovation||December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Because of the verbal abuse and death threats coming my way, these women seemed to identify with me.
During Advent, Lots of Waiting, But Not Enough Hope|Gene Robinson|December 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I can only say that you find them, that you cannot identify them, so it is not unusual.
Warren Commission (3 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
What nation of ancient history can claim and identify those customs and observances as their own, if not the Hebrew?
The History of Ancient America, Anterior to the Time of Columbus|George Jones
Did you identify the man in the lineup before your sister-in-law?
Warren Commission (3 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
She dressed to please him; she consulted him on most things; she seemed to identify her interests with his.
Wife in Name Only|Charlotte M. Braeme (Bertha M. Clay)
They are eager to identify themselves with those who have been rich longer than they.
Annie Kilburn|William Dean Howells

British Dictionary definitions for identify

identify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (mainly tr)

to prove or recognize as being a certain person or thing; determine the identity of

to consider as the same or equivalent

(also intr often foll by with) to consider (oneself) as similar to another

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

(intr usually foll by with) psychol to engage in identification

Derived Formsidentifiable, adjectiveidentifiably, adverb

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

Word Origin and History for identify

identify

1640s, "regard as the same," from French identifier, from identité (see identity). Sense of "recognize" first recorded 1769. Meaning "make one (with), associate (oneself)" is from 1780. Sense of "serve as means of identification" is attested by 1886. Related: Identified; identifying.