identify English · revision 4486

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1644|origins=la-lat identitas}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /aɪˈden.tɪ.faɪ/, US /aɪˈden.t̬ɪ.faɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|identifier]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from identité, the source of [[identity]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the suffix -fier, [[-fy]].^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) NODE and SOED derive it from Medieval Latin identificāre, from Late Latin identitās and Latin -ficāre, from facere “to make”.^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To regard or treat as the same: 1644 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the 1640s in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster gives 1626.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To become or prove to be the same was used intransitively from 1683 into the 19th century.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) To establish who or what a person or thing is, to recognize, is recorded from 1769.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Identify oneself with'', to associate oneself closely with, is from 1780,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and later in psychology to model oneself on someone, especially unconsciously.^(OED 1989) To serve as a means of identification is from 1886,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the colloquial sense “to discover, perceive” from 1922.^(OED 1989) ''Identification'' is from 1644,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''identifiable'' from 1804.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1644 – to regard as the same, and ''identification''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1683 – to become the same (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1769 – to establish the identity of.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1780 – ''identify oneself with''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1804 – ''identifiable''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1886 – to serve to identify.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To establish or [[recognize]] who or what someone or something is.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To discover or determine the nature or cause of: ''identify the problem''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To determine the [[taxonomy|alt=taxonomic]] classification of an organism.^(AHD)

+ # To consider as the same; to [[equate]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''identify with'': to feel a close sympathy with, or to associate oneself with.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[identifiable]]

+ * [[identifiably]]

+ * [[identifier]]

+ * [[identifiability]]

+ * [[unidentified]]

+ * [[unidentifying]]

+ * [[misidentify]]

+ * [[overidentify]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[identic]]

+ * [[identical]]

+ * [[identification]]

+ * [[identity]]

+ * [[idem]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}