identical
American
adjective
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Also called: numerically identical. being one and the same individual
Cicero and Tully are identical
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Also called: quantitatively identical. exactly alike, equal, or agreeing
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designating either or both of a pair of twins of the same sex who developed from a single fertilized ovum that split into two Compare fraternal
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of identical
First recorded in 1610–20; from Medieval Latin identic(us) identic + -al 1
Compare meaning
How does identical compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When you're looking for exact replicas, don't waste your time on snowflakes or fingerprints; no two are identical, or exactly the same. Great mind may think alike, but they'll never be identical. Twins, on the other hand, very well may be — if they've come from the same split embryo that is. It makes sense then, that the word identical has linguistic roots in the Latin word idem, meaning "the same."
Vocabulary lists containing identical
List 3
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Measurement and Data, List 1
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Measurement and Data
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
According to Art of Play, it had explained to Clarkson that Molly was not for sale but “a nearly identical automaton is owned by the creator of the machines.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
White Fox's designs are "substantially identical with or otherwise deceptively similar" to Adidas, the company claims.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
By keeping their diets identical, the researchers could more clearly isolate the effects of exercise.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
It wasn’t identical, but it was still absolutely perfect.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Why was there no hemoglobin in his eye or his skin—even though eye cells and skin cells and, indeed, every cell in the human body possessed identical copies of the same gene?
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
