identifier French · revision 16007

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1610, Pierre Coton|origins=la-med identificō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i.dɑ̃.ti.fje/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''identifier'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is borrowed from scholastic Latin [[la-med|identificō|alt=identificāre|t=to make alike]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) recorded about 1300 in England, from [[la|idem|t=the same]] and [[la|faciō|alt=facere|t=to make]] (see [[identique]], [[identité]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Littré explains it as “identique” + “-fier”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Jesuit Pierre Coton (1610) used it for understanding two things under one idea: ''Tous y seront égaux, identifiez avec leur premier principe''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Rousseau's ''Confessions'' (written 1764–1766) have the reflexive ''s'identifier'' “to merge, become one” (''mon cœur... s'identifie à ceux qui le flattent'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Mme de Staël (1784) used it for recognising who someone is (''un destinataire non identifié''), and Montalembert, rarely, for “to make identical” (1836).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From 1864 (Renouvier) it meant recognising the nature of something, at the end of the 19th century establishing someone's civil identity (''identifier un cadavre''), and in 1935 assigning something to a class (''identifier un accent'').^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The verb and its derivatives later specialised for the recognition of a person by a technical system (''s'identifier'' “to log in”, ''identifiant'').^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) ''Identification'' was borrowed in 1610, and ''identifiable'' is used from 1905.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – Scholastic Latin ''identificare'' in England.^(TLFi)

+ * 1610 – In Pierre Coton, ''identification''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1766 – ''S'identifier'' in Rousseau.^(TLFi)

+ * 1784 – “To recognise”, in Mme de Staël.^(TLFi)

+ * 1864 – “To recognise the nature of”, in Renouvier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1905 – ''Identifiable''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1935 – Of a class, in the Académie.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|identify]] (with), to equate: ''identifier une chose à une autre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To identify, recognise: ''identifier un malfaiteur, un cadavre'', ''objet volant non identifié''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # To identify as belonging to a class: ''identifier des plantes''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(reflexive)'' ''S'identifier à'': to identify with.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(computing, reflexive)'' To log in.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[identification]]

+ * [[identification]]

+ * [[identifiable]]

+ * [[identifiant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[identificateur]]

+ * [[identificatoire]]

+ * [[identique]]

+ * [[identiquement]]

+ * [[identitaire]]

+ * [[identité]]

+ * [[la|idem]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}