IDENTIFY (identified)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: identified   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does identify mean? 

• IDENTIFY (verb)
  The verb IDENTIFY has 6 senses:

1. recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something

2. give the name or identifying characteristics of; refer to by name or some other identifying characteristic property

3. consider (oneself) as similar to somebody else

4. conceive of as united or associated

5. identify as in botany or biology, for example

6. consider to be equal or the same

  Familiarity information: IDENTIFY used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IDENTIFY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they identify    ... he / she / it identifies   
Past simple: identified   
Past participle: identified   
-ing form: identifying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

identify; place

Context example:

She identified the man on the 'wanted' poster

Hypernyms (to "identify" is one way to...):

determine; set (fix conclusively or authoritatively)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "identify"):

differentiate; distinguish; secern; secernate; separate; severalise; severalize; tell; tell apart (mark as different)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

identifiable (capable of being identified)

identification (the process of recognizing something or someone by remembering)

identification (the condition of having the identity (of a person or object) established)

identity (the distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity)

identity (the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give the name or identifying characteristics of; refer to by name or some other identifying characteristic property

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

identify; name

Context example:

The almanac identifies the auspicious months

Hypernyms (to "identify" is one way to...):

denote; refer (have as a meaning)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "identify"):

enumerate; itemise; itemize; recite (specify individually)

list; number (enumerate)

announce (give the names of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

identification (the act of designating or identifying something)

identification (evidence of identity; something that identifies a person or thing)

identification (the condition of having the identity (of a person or object) established)

identity (the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Consider (oneself) as similar to somebody else

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

He identified with the refugees

Hypernyms (to "identify" is one way to...):

consider; reckon; regard; see; view (deem to be)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

identification (the attribution to yourself (consciously or unconsciously) of the characteristics of another person (or group of persons))

identity (exact sameness)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Conceive of as united or associated

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

Sex activity is closely identified with the hypothalamus

Hypernyms (to "identify" is one way to...):

associate; colligate; connect; link; link up; relate; tie in (make a logical or causal connection)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s something with something

Derivation:

identification (the act of designating or identifying something)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Identify as in botany or biology, for example

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

describe; discover; distinguish; identify; key; key out; name

"Identify" entails doing...:

assort; class; classify; separate; sort; sort out (arrange or order by classes or categories)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

identifiable (capable of being identified)

identification (the act of designating or identifying something)

identity (the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Consider to be equal or the same

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

He identified his brother as one of the fugitives

Hypernyms (to "identify" is one way to...):

recognise; recognize (perceive to be the same)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "identify"):

misidentify; mistake (identify incorrectly)

type; typecast (identify as belonging to a certain type)

taste (distinguish flavors)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

identity (exact sameness)

 Context examples 

A number that identifies the ordering relations (in time, space, etc.) in a set of microbiology specimens.

(Microbiology Specimen Sequence Number, NCI Thesaurus)

Scientific discipline concerned with the development of methods and application of these methods to detect, identify, and quantify biological materials (e.g., proteins, nucleic acids, metabolites).

(Analytical Biochemistry, NCI Thesaurus)

This test is the most sensitive and reliable field method available to chemically identify amanitin-containing mushrooms.

(New Test Identifies Poisonous Mushrooms, Agricultural Research Service)

ACE 2 only cleaves 1 amino acid to produce angiotensin 1-9 (AGT 1-9) which has no identified function at this time.

(Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

One or more sponsor defined characters used to identify, name, or characterize the microbiology specimen.

(Microbiology Specimen Sponsor Defined Identifier, NCI Thesaurus)

Examination and interpretation; the process of identifying an issue to be understood and addressed, modelling the issue, investigating the model results, interpreting the results, and possibly making a recommendation.

(Analysis, NCI Thesaurus)

It is used to identify the object among other objects in a collection.

(Accession Number, NCI Thesaurus)

One thing, especially, I remember, because it served to identify the man still more:—as soon as the ceremony was over, they were to go to Combe Magna, his seat in Somersetshire.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

A number that identifies the ordering relations (in time, space, etc.) in a set of microbiology susceptibility data.

(Microbiology Susceptibility Sequence Number, NCI Thesaurus)

A new meta-analysis of more than 135,000 people with major depression and more than 344,000 controls has identified 44 genomic variants, or loci, that have a statistically significant association with depression.

(Forty-Four Genomic Variants Linked to Major Depression, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)