identification

Forms

identification f (plural identifications)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin identificātiō, a word of Scholastic Latin recorded in England about 1380, from identificō (“to identify”).^[2][3][4] The Petit Robert, the GLLF, Bloch and Wartburg and Littré instead derive it within French from identifier.^[5][6][7][8] The Latin verb is formed on Latin idem (“the same”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pierre Coton's Institution catholique (1610) has L'union beatifique ne se fait pas par identification d'essence avec Dieu “the beatific union does not come about through an identification of essence with God”, in the sense of treating one thing as the same as another.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun followed the development of the verb identifier.^[3] From treating one thing or person as the same as another (1610), it came to mean becoming one with someone or something (1847, Michelet), and the act of establishing a person's identity or of recognizing a thing for what it is (1883, Renan).^[2][3][6]

In psychoanalysis it names the process by which a person models himself on another, a sense found in a translation of Freud (1924) and in Lalande (1947);^[9][6][3] in air defence it was used about 1940 for recognizing an aircraft.^[6] English took identification from French in the 1640s.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – Scholastic Latin identificatio is recorded in England.^[2][3]
• 1610 – Pierre Coton uses identification for the treating of one thing as the same as another.^[2]
• 1640s – English borrows the word.^[10]
• 1847 – Michelet uses it for becoming one with someone.^[2][3]
• 1883 – Renan uses it for establishing a person's identity.^[2][3]
• 1924 – It appears in psychoanalysis, in a translation of Freud.^[9]
• c. 1940 – It is used in air defence.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of identifying a person or thing, establishing its identity, and the result: l'identification d'une victime.^[5][2]
2. The act of treating one thing or person as the same as another, assimilation: l'identification d'une idée à une autre.^[5][2][6]
3. The fact of identifying oneself with someone or something: l'identification d'une actrice avec son rôle.^[5][6]
4. (psychology) The process by which a person forms himself on the model of another.^[5][6]

Related words

• identifier
• identité
• identificateur
• English identification

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com