different between identical vs identify

English

Etymology

From identic +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??d?nt?kl?/, /a??d?nt?kl?/
• Hyphenation: i?den?ti?cal

Adjective

identical (comparative more identical, superlative most identical)

1. (not comparable) Bearing full likeness by having precisely the same set of characteristics; indistinguishable.
2. (not comparable) Not different or other; not another or others; not different as regards self; selfsame; numerically identical.
3. (not comparable, biology) Of twins, sharing the same genetic code.
4. (not comparable, mathematics) Exactly equivalent.
5. (comparable, rare) Approximating or approaching exact equivalence.
   • 1788, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, The Federalist, XLI:

     The terms of Article 8th are still more identical.

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:identical.

Usage notes

• In mathematics, this adjective can be used in phrases like "A and B are identical", "A is identical to B", and, less commonly, "A is identical with B".
• Adverbs often used with "identical": absolutely, almost, nearly, practically, virtually, substantially.

Synonyms

• (bearing full likeness): same
• (selfsame): same, selfsame

Antonyms

• contrasting
• different
• distinct
• non-identical

Coordinate terms

• (of twins): dizygotic

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

identical (plural identicals)

1. (usually pluralized, chiefly philosophy) Something which has exactly the same properties as something else.
2. An identical twin.

Derived terms

• indiscernibility of identicals

References

• identical in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• identical in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• identical at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• ctenidial, diclinate, dinetical

English

Etymology

From French identifier, from Medieval Latin identicus + Latin faci?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a??d?n.t?.fa?/, /??d?n.t?.fa?/
• Hyphenation: iden?ti?fy

Verb

identify (third-person singular simple present identifies, present participle identifying, simple past and past participle identified)

1. (transitive) To establish the identity of someone or something.
2. (transitive) To disclose the identity of someone.

3. (transitive, biology) To establish the taxonomic classification of an organism.
4. (transitive) To equate or make the same; to unite or combine into one.
   • 1809, David Ramsay, History of South Carolina

     Every precaution is taken to identify the interests of the people and of the rulers.

   • 18 February, 1780, Edmund Burke, Speech on Economical Reform

     Let us identify, let us incorporate ourselves with the people.

5. (reflexive) To have a strong affinity with; to feel oneself to be modelled on or connected to.
   • 1999, Joyce Crick, translating Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Oxford 2008, p. 117:

     The dream is given a new interpretation if in her dream she means not herself but her friend, if she has put herself in the place of her friend, or, as we may say, she has identified [transl. identifiziert] herself with her. (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.)

   • 2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 1, 29

     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.

6. (intransitive) To associate oneself with some group.
7. (intransitive) To claim an identity; to describe oneself as a member of a group; to assert the use of a particular term to describe oneself.

Synonyms

• to ID

Related terms

• identic
• identical
• identification
• identifier
• identifyee
• identity
• identify with

Translations

Further reading

• identify in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• identify in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• identify at OneLook Dictionary Search