identify
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.
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.
Origin of identify
1Other words for identify
Other words from identify
- i·den·ti·fi·a·ble, adjective
- i·den·ti·fi·a·bil·i·ty, i·den·ti·fi·a·ble·ness, noun
- i·den·ti·fi·er, noun
- o·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, adjective
- un·i·den·ti·fi·a·bly, adverb
- un·i·den·ti·fied, adjective
- un·i·den·ti·fy·ing, adjective
- well-i·den·ti·fied, adjective
Words Nearby identify
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use identify in a sentence
Correctly identifying such trends means being able to plan in advance and then taking advantage of heightened interest.
A comprehensive guide on using Google Trends for keyword research | Aayush Gupta | February 12, 2021 | Search Engine WatchReporters Sapien and Sanders worked with Willis to identify several high-ranking NYPD commanders who had been promoted again and again despite long records of serious civilian complaints.
ProPublica’s “NYPD Files” Wins John Jay College/Harry Frank Guggenheim Award for Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting | by ProPublica | February 11, 2021 | ProPublicaFirst, the team worked to identify whether they had assigned the most relevant URLs for the keywords.
Case study: Schneider Electric’s digital transformation through centralized search | Evan Kent and Kimberly Dutcher | February 11, 2021 | Search Engine WatchIf scientists are able to identify an immune correlate of protection, however, “and you can demonstrate that kids get that with the vaccine, that’s even more satisfying,” O’Leary said.
Fauci: Vaccines for Kids as Young as First Graders Could Be Authorized by September | by Caroline Chen | February 11, 2021 | ProPublicaThe funds were to be transferred to the CPUC quarterly, but the CPUC didn’t try to identify whether any of that money was outstanding.
Utility Companies Owe Millions to This State Regulatory Agency. The Problem? The Agency Can’t Track What It’s Owed. | by Scott Morris, Bay City News Foundation | February 10, 2021 | ProPublica
We have thousands of users who identify themselves as transgendered and they are welcome members of the Grindr community.
He loves the fact that, like on Grindr, users can identify as transgender.
But most likely it was linked to the way priests identify with the poor in the face of government and criminal abuses.
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 | THE DAILY BEASTThe others are difficult to identify, since they reacted with other oxygen-bearing molecules in the soil.
Ordinarily, no attempt is made to identify any but the tubercle bacillus and the gonococcus.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddAll the same, she was quite at a loss to know how she was to identify the General Maxgregor when he did come.
The Weight of the Crown | Fred M. WhiteIn some cases proper evidence may be used to identify things where the description in the will is ambiguous.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney BollesThe thing bequeathed must be described with sufficient clearness to identify it, nothing more is required.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney BollesHowever, both let it pass, and no one through the whole school attempted to identify it.
The Daisy Chain | Charlotte Yonge
British Dictionary definitions for identify
/ (aɪˈdɛntɪˌfaɪ) /
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 forms of identify
- identifiable, adjective
- identifiably, 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
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