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identify

[ ahy-den-tuh-fahy, ih-den- ]
/ aɪˈdɛn təˌfaɪ, ɪˈdɛn- /
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verb (used with object), i·den·ti·fied, i·den·ti·fy·ing.

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.

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RELATED WORDS

diagnose, pinpoint, describe, spot, classify, determine, analyze, establish, find, select, name, separate, catalog, tag, place, distinguish, peg, card, determinate, tab

Nearby words

  1. identification bracelet,
  2. identification card,
  3. identification parade,
  4. identification tag,
  5. identifier,
  6. identikit,
  7. identity,
  8. identity card,
  9. identity crisis,
  10. identity disorder

Origin of identify

1635–45; < Medieval Latin identificāre, equivalent to identi(tās) identity + -ficāre -fy
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for identify

British Dictionary definitions for identify

identify

/ (aɪˈdɛntɪˌfaɪ) /

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

v.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper