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Etymology and origin of the English word identifier

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1807 F. Lathom, Human Beings
Ultimate origins
French identifierEnglish -er
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French identifier
English identify
English identifier
From the same root
English identifiable ← identifier

Etymology

It is formed from English identify + -er.[1][2] The OED compares the occasional form identifior with the suffix -or.[1] Identify is from French identifier, from identité, the source of identity.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A thing used to identify someone or something: 1807, in F. Lathom's Human Beings.[1][4] Etymonline dates the word to 1870.[2]

Semantic evolution

From 1819 it was also used of people: someone who identifies another person or a thing, and someone who identifies with a person or group.[1] The 20th century added technical senses, first in linguistics (1938), for an element of language that identifies something, and then in computing (1958), for a string of characters devised to name a set of data, a storage location or a point in a program.[1]

Timeline

  • 1807 – a thing used to identify someone or something.[1][4]
  • 1819 – a person who identifies someone or something; a person who identifies with a group.[1]
  • 1938 – in linguistics, an element with an identifying function.[1]
  • 1958 – in computing, a sequence of characters naming data, a location or a point in a program.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person or thing that establishes the identity of someone or something: The serial number is the only reliable identifier on the bike.[5][4][1]
  2. (computing) A name made of a sequence of characters that refers to a set of data, a location in memory or a point in a program.[1]
  3. (linguistics) An element of language whose function is to identify something.[1]
  4. A person who identifies with another person or a group.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Identifier.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/identifier. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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