Library / English Dictionary

IDENTIFY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: identified   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consider to be equal or the same

Example:

He identified his brother as one of the fugitives

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something

Example:

She identified the man on the 'wanted' poster

Synonyms:

identify; place

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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 3

Meaning:

Identify as in botany or biology, for example

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

"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 4

Meaning:

Consider (oneself) as similar to somebody else

Example:

He identified with the refugees

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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 5

Meaning:

Conceive of as united or associated

Example:

Sex activity is closely identified with the hypothalamus

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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 6

Meaning:

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

Example:

The almanac identifies the auspicious months

Synonyms:

identify; name

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

An identifying number within an institution that is used to reference a subject's medical information.

(Medical Record Number, NCI Thesaurus)

The study characterised the genetic underpinnings of the human plasma ‘proteome’, identifying nearly 2,000 genetic associations with almost 1,500 proteins.

(Scientists create ‘genetic atlas’ of proteins in human blood, University of Cambridge)

Originally identified as a cellular transcription factor that binds the enhancer region of SV40.

(AP-2 Family Transcription Factor, NCI Thesaurus)

This made it easier to identify structural features of the genomes and the genes residing on them.

(Peanut Genome Sequenced with Unprecedent Accuracy, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

ANK repeats have been identified in over 1700 functionally diverse proteins, primarily from eukaryotes; no common theme among the protein targets has been identified.

(Ankyrin Repeat, NCI Thesaurus)

One or more sponsor-defined characters used to identify, name, or characterize the medical history items.

(Medical History Sponsor Defined Identifier, NCI Thesaurus)

Part of a risk that is identified as due to exposure to a defined factor.

(Attributable Risk, NCI Thesaurus)

Potential therapeutic targets identified by the researchers are the enzymes that regulate the chemical modification of FUS and the molecular chaperones that facilitate FUS proteins to change its form.

(Mechanism behind neuron death in motor neurone disease and frontotemporal dementia discovered, University of Cambridge)

A laboratory test to identify antibodies that can bind to the surface of red blood cells or platelets and destroy them.

(Antiglobulin test, NCI Dictionary)

This technique identifies nucleosomal DNA sequences.

(MNase Sequencing, NCI Thesaurus)