Definition of 'identify'
Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense identifies
, present participle identifying
, past tense, past participle identified
1. verb
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 noun]
2. verb
If you identify someone or something, you name them or say who or what they are.
They identified six plants as having potential for development into pharmaceutical
drugs. [V n as n/-ing]
3. verb
Scientists claim to have identified natural substances with cancer-combating properties. [VERB noun]
4. verb
If a particular thing identifies someone or something, it makes them easy to recognize, by making them different in some way.
5. verb
If you identify with someone or something, you feel that you understand them or their feelings and ideas.
I could speak their language and identify with their problems because I had been
there myself. [VERB with noun]
6. verb
If you identify as someone or something, you say that you are that kind of person or belong to that
group.
7. verb
If you identify one person or thing with another, you think that they are closely associated or involved in some way.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
identify in British English
verbWord forms: -fies, -fying, -fied (mainly tr)
2.
to consider as the same or equivalent
3. (also intr; often foll by with)
to consider (oneself) as similar to another
4. (intransitive; often foll by as)
to declare oneself to be a member of a particular group
to identify as a communist
5.
to determine the taxonomic classification of (a plant or animal)
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
identifiable (iˈdentiˌfiable) adjective
identifiably (iˈdentiˌfiably)
adverb
Word Frequency
identify in American English
verb transitiveWord forms: iˈdentiˌfied or iˈdentiˌfying
2.
to recognize as being or show to be the very person or thing known, described, or claimed; fix the identity of
to identify a biological specimen
3.
to connect, associate, or involve closely
to identify a person with a school of thought
4. Psychoanalysis
to make an identification of (oneself) with someone else
often used absolutely verb intransitive
5.
to put oneself in another's place, so as to understand and share the other's thoughts,
feelings, problems, etc.; sympathize (with)
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
identifiable (iˌdentiˈfiable)
adjective
identifier (iˈdentiˌfier)
noun
Word Frequency
identify in American English
(aiˈdentəˌfai, ɪˈden-) (verb -fied, -fying)
transitive verb
1.
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
2.
to serve as a means of identification for
His gruff voice quickly identified him
3.
to make, represent to be, or regard or treat as the same or identical
They identified Jones with the progress of the company
4. (usually fol. by with)
to associate in name, feeling, interest, action, etc.
He preferred not to identify himself with that group
6. Psychology
to associate (one or oneself) with another person or a group of persons by identification
intransitive verb
SYNONYMS 1. distinguish, place, know, determine.Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
identifiable adjective
identifiability or identifiableness
noun
identifier
noun
Word origin
[1635–45; ‹ ML identificāre, equiv. to identi(tās) identity + -ficāre -fy]Examples of 'identify' in a sentence
identify
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In other languages
identify
British English: identify
/aɪˈdɛntɪˌfaɪ/ VERB
If you can identify someone or something, you can recognize them and say who or what they are.
Now we have identified the problem, we must decide how to fix it.
- American English: identify /aɪˈdɛntɪfaɪ/
- Arabic: يَتَحَقَّقُ مِنْ شَخْصِيَّةٍ
- Brazilian Portuguese: identificar
- Chinese: 识别
- Croatian: identificirati
- Czech: identifikovat
- Danish: identificere
- Dutch: identificeren
- European Spanish: identificar
- Finnish: tunnistaa nimetä
- French: identifier
- German: identifizieren
- Greek: προσδιορίζω
- Italian: identificare
- Japanese: 識別する
- Korean: 확인하다
- Norwegian: identifisere
- Polish: zidentyfikować
- European Portuguese: identificar
- Romanian: a identifica
- Russian: идентифицировать
- Latin American Spanish: identificar
- Swedish: identifiera
- Thai: ระบุ, ชี้ตัว
- Turkish: kimlik belirlemek
- Ukrainian: розпізнавати
- Vietnamese: nhận dạng
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Definition of identify from the Collins English Dictionary
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