identify

Verb

1. To establish the identity of someone or something.
   • It was hard to identify the shoplifter because the CCTV records didn't have a clear image.
   • The formal name of a national having domiciliary register shall be identified by the national identity card. - 1953, Enforcement Regulations of the Name Act:
   • A provision of law may not be construed as requiring a new grant to be awarded to a specified non-Federal Government entity unless that provision of law (1) specifically refers to this subsection; specifically...
2. To disclose the identity of someone.
   • The Associated Press will not identify the suspect of the crime because he is a juvenile.
3. To establish the taxonomic classification of an organism.
   • A recent biological inventory uncovered 41 species and 2 subspecies of insects new to science and many species not before identified in the State of Washington. - 2000, Bill Clinton, Proclamation 7319:
4. To equate or make the same; to unite or combine into one.
   • Every precaution is taken to identify the interests of the people, and their rulers. - 1809, David Ramsay, History of South Carolina, volume II, page 80:
   • 18 February, 1780, Edmund Burke, Speech on Economical Reform Let us identify, let us incorporate ourselves with the people.
5. To have a strong affinity with; to feel oneself to be modelled on or connected to.
   • Der Traum erhält eine neue Deutung, wenn sie im Traum nicht sich, sondern die Freundin meint, wenn sie sich an die Stelle der Freundin gesetzt oder, wie wir sagen können, sich mit ihr identifiziert hat. - 1999 [1899],...
   • Cash endures because his most well-known songs—“I Walk the Line” and “Ring of Fire” among them—weave deeply personal narratives with which listeners of all stripes can effortlessly identify. - 2012, Christoper Zara,...
6. To associate oneself with some group; to feel, or believe one feels, the same way.
   • Now, the vast majority of us identify with the second group, the one that believes in trusting the wisdom of the people rather than taking power away from them and concentrating it in the other hands. - 1983,...
   • My lover and I are arguing about time. Specifically how much time I'm devoting to AIDS Action. […] I try not to take her accusations to heart. That is, until she says it. "You're more gay-identified than...
7. To claim an identity; to describe oneself as a member of a group; to assert the use of a particular term to describe oneself.
   • "The main message is that it's the interface between individuals and society that causes students who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual the most distress," said study first author Yue Zhao. - 2010 February 6, “Youth...