Adjacent Words

Identify definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IDEN'TIFY, v.t. [L. idem, the same, and facio, to make.]
1. To ascertain or prove to be the same. The owner of the goods found them in the possession of the thief,and identified them.
2. To make to be the same; to unite or combine in such a manner as to make one interest, purpose or intention; to treat as having the same use; to consider as the same in effect.
Paul has identified the two ordinances,circumcision and baptism, and thus, by demonstrating that they have one and the same use and meaning, he has exhibited to our view the very same seal of God's covenant.
That treaty in fact identified Spain with the republican government of France, by a virtual acknowledgment of unqualified vassalage, and by specific stipulations of unconditional defense.
Every precaution is taken to identify the interests of the people, and of the rules.
IDEN'TIFY, v.i. To become the same; to coalesce in interest, purpose,use, effect, etc.
--An enlightened self-interest, which, when well understood, they tell us will identify with an interest more enlarged and public.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something; "She identified the man on the 'wanted' poster" [syn: identify, place]
2: give the name or identifying characteristics of; refer to by name or some other identifying characteristic property; "Many senators were named in connection with the scandal"; "The almanac identifies the auspicious months" [syn: name, identify]
3: consider (oneself) as similar to somebody else; "He identified with the refugees"
4: conceive of as united or associated; "Sex activity is closely identified with the hypothalamus"
5: identify as in botany or biology, for example [syn: identify, discover, key, key out, distinguish, describe, name]
6: consider to be equal or the same; "He identified his brother as one of the fugitives"

Merriam Webster's

verb (-fied; -fying) Date: 1644 transitive verb 1. a. to cause to be or become identical b. to conceive as united (as in spirit, outlook, or principle) <groups that are identified with conservation> 2. a. to establish the identity of b. to determine the taxonomic position of (a biological specimen) intransitive verb 1. to be or become the same 2. to practice psychological identification <identify with the hero of a novel> • identifiable adjective • identifiably adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. (-ies, -ied) 1 tr. establish the identity of; recognize. 2 tr. establish or select by consideration or analysis of the circumstances (identify the best method of solving the problem). 3 tr. (foll. by with) associate (a person or oneself) inseparably or very closely (with a party, policy, etc.). 4 tr. (often foll. by with) treat (a thing) as identical. 5 intr. (foll. by with) a regard oneself as sharing characteristics of (another person). b associate oneself. Derivatives: identifiable adj. Etymology: med.L identificare (as IDENTITY)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Identify I*den"ti*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Identified; p. pr. & vb. n. Identifying.] [Cf. F. identifier. See Identity, and -fy.] 1. To make to be the same; to unite or combine in such a manner as to make one; to treat as being one or having the same purpose or effect; to consider as the same in any relation. Every precaution is taken to identify the interests of the people and of the rulers. --D. Ramsay. Let us identify, let us incorporate ourselves with the people. --Burke. 2. To establish the identity of; to prove to be the same with something described, claimed, or asserted; as, to identify stolen property.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Identify I*den"ti*fy, v. i. To become the same; to coalesce in interest, purpose, use, effect, etc. [Obs. or R.] An enlightened self-interest, which, when well understood, they tell us will identify with an interest more enlarged and public. --Burke.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(identifies, identifying, identified) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you can identify someone or something, you are able to recognize them or distinguish them from others. There are a number of distinguishing characteristics by which you can identify a Hollywood epic... VERB: V n 2. If you identify someone or something, you name them or say who or what they are. Police have already identified around 10 murder suspects... The reporters identified one of the six Americans as an Army Specialist... = name VERB: V n, V n as n/-ing 3. If you identify something, you discover or notice its existence. Scientists claim to have identified natural substances with cancer-combating properties... = discover VERB: V n 4. If a particular thing identifies someone or something, it makes them easy to recognize, by making them different in some way. She wore a little nurse's hat on her head to identify her... His boots and purple beret identify him as commanding the Scottish Paratroops. = distinguish VERB: V n, V n as -ing/n 5. If you identify with someone or something, you feel that you understand them or their feelings and ideas. She would only play a role if she could identify with the character... VERB: V with n 6. If you identify one person or thing with another, you think that they are closely associated or involved in some way. She hates playing the sweet, passive women that audiences identify her with... The candidates all want to identify themselves with reform. = associate VERB: V n with n, V pron-refl with n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Prove to be identical, prove to be the same, ascertain to be the same. 2. Make identical, regard as one, consider the same, take for identical, confound. II. v. n. Become identical, be the same. III. n. Sameness.

Moby Thesaurus

ally, apply, appraise, argue, assess, associate, baptize, be indicative of, be significant of, be symptomatic of, bespeak, betoken, bind, bracket, call, catalog, catalogue, categorize, characterize, christen, class, classify, coalesce, combine, connect, connote, correlate, couple, define, denominate, denote, descry, designate, detect, determinate, determine, diagnose, differentiate, dig, discern, disclose, display, distinguish, draw a parallel, dub, empathize with, entail, entitle, equate, espy, establish, evaluate, express, factor, find, finger, fuse, gauge, give evidence, give token, group, have, highlight, hint, home in on, home on, identify with, indicate, interrelate, involve, join, know, know again, label, link, make one, make out, manifest, map, mark, mean, merge, nail, name, nickname, nominate, note, notice, parallel, parallelize, peg, perceive, pick out, pick up, pinpoint, place, point out, realize, recall knowledge of, receive, recognize, reidentify, relate, relate to, relativize, reveal, scan, see, select, sense, show, sift, signify, single out, sort, sort out, specify, spot, spy, stand for, style, suggest, sweep, sympathize with, symptomatize, symptomize, synthesize, tag, tell, term, testify, thrash out, tie, title, trigger, tune in, unify, unite, wed, weigh, winnow