identidade

Forms

identidade f (plural identidades)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin identitās (“sameness”), borrowed in the 17th century.^[2][3][1] Houaiss finds the Latin word first in Martianus Capella, about 425, and Aurélio calls it Late Latin, while Cunha and Wiktionary call it Medieval Latin and Nascentes a word of scholastic Latin.^{[2][4][3][1][5]}

It corresponds to Spanish identidad, French identité, Italian identità, Catalan identitat and Romanian identitate.^[1][6]

The Latin noun is formed from īdem (“the same”) with the suffix -tās, as a calque of Ancient Greek ταὐτότης (tautótēs, “sameness”).^[1] Houaiss sets it in a line of abstract nouns made from pronouns that goes back to Cicero, such as quālitās and alteritās, and suggests that the adverb identidem (“repeatedly”) gave the model for its form.^[2] The pronoun itself joins the pronoun is with an emphatic particle.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1696.^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) calls it a term of philosophy and theology, the quality by which two things are of the same nature, or one thing the same as another: the waters of two rivers that meet make one river, and the three divine persons share identidade de natureza.^[8] He quotes João Soares's Apologia de Camoens: A imitação diz semelhança, e não identidade “imitation means likeness, not sameness”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) still labels the word a term of logic, and quotes a legal use: objections are rejected pela identidade da matéria when they contain nothing new.^[9] Vieira (1871–1874) adds the consciousness a person has of being oneself, Schelling's philosophy of identity, the legal fiction that makes heir and testator one person, and the judicial recognition of a person dead or alive.^[10] Figueiredo (1899) has the fact that someone is the person he claims to be, the identification of a corpse, and the algebraic identity.^[11]

The word then came to mean the set of features that mark out a person, a group or a thing, and in Brazil it is short for cédula or carteira de identidade, the identity card.^[2][4][1] Psychology gave crise de identidade, and advertising identidade visual, the visual identity of a firm or product.^[2]

Timeline

• 1696 – Houaiss's first date.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as a term of philosophy and theology.^[8]
• 1789 – Morais labels it a term of logic.^[9]
• 1871 – Vieira records the sense “consciousness of oneself” and the legal senses.^[10]
• 1899 – Figueiredo adds the identification of a person or corpse and the algebraic sense.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The state of what does not change and stays always the same.^[2]
2. (psychology) Awareness of the persistence of one's own personality.^[2][12]
3. sameness: the quality of being identical to something else.^[2][4][13]
4. identity: the set of features and circumstances by which a person or thing can be told apart from others.^{[2][4][12][1]}
5. (Brazil, colloquial) An identity card, short for carteira de identidade or cédula de identidade.^[2][4][1]
6. (mathematics) An equality that holds for all values of its variables.^[2][14]
7. (modern algebra) An identity element, short for elemento identidade.^[2][4]
8. (philosophy) In Aristotelian thought, unity of substance, as opposed to otherness (alteridade).^[2][4]

Word family

• identitário

Related words

• idêntico
• Latin identitas
• Spanish identidad

Usage notes

Falsa identidade or identidade alheia is, in law, the use of a false identity or of someone else's identity papers.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. identidade
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. identidade
4. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. identidade
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. identidade
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. identidad
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. īdem
8. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. identidade
9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 690
10. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 1006
11. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 723
12. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. identidade
13. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. identidade
14. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. identidade