identify

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /aɪˈdɛn.(t)ə.faɪ/ UK /aɪˈdɛn.tɪ.faɪ/ See IPA manual

verb Freq #3154

Meanings

1

verb
To recognize someone or something and say who or what they are.

It was hard to identify the thief from the blurry video.
2

verb
To feel that you share something with another person or group.

Many readers identify with the lonely hero of the novel.
3

verb
To describe yourself as belonging to a particular group.

She identifies as a feminist.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to recognize someone or... name

More clock id ken notice recognize twig

Opposites

misken

Word family

Forms identifiableidentifiedidentifiesidentifying

Derived forms deidentifydisidentifyhyperidentifyidentifiabilityidentifiableidentifieeidentifieridentifyeemisidentifynonidentifiednonidentifyingoveridentify

Related forms associate identic identical identification identity

Common collocations

Etymology

From French identifier, from Medieval Latin identicus + Latin faciō.

identifier French identicus la-med faciō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

# identify

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** aɪˈdɛn.(t)ə.faɪ
**IPA (UK):** aɪˈdɛn.tɪ.faɪ
**Frequency rank:** 3154

## Meanings
1. To recognize someone or something and say who or what they are.
2. To feel that you share something with another person or group.
3. To describe yourself as belonging to a particular group.

## Examples
- It was hard to identify the thief from the blurry video.
- Many readers identify with the lonely hero of the novel.
- She identifies as a feminist.

## Synonyms
- clock
- id
- ken
- notice
- recognize
- twig

## Antonyms
- misken

## Derived Forms
- deidentify
- disidentify
- hyperidentify
- identifiability
- identifiable
- identifiee
- identifier
- identifyee
- misidentify
- nonidentified
- nonidentifying
- overidentify

## Related Forms
- associate
- identic
- identical
- identification
- identity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: identifier
- Root: identicus
- Root: faciō
- Affix: -ify - to make

## Etymology
From French identifier, from Medieval Latin identicus + Latin faciō.

## AI Etymology
Identify comes from French identifier, from Medieval Latin identicus + Latin faciō. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern verbal form is built from the named elements. In current use, the main senses are “To recognize someone or something and say who or what they are” and “To feel that you share something with another person or group”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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