different between identify vs ally

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

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English allien, alien, from Old French alier (Modern Old French allier), from Latin allig? (“to bind to”), from ad (“to”) + lig? (“to bind”). Compare alligate, allay, alloy and ligament.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?l'?, IPA^(key): /?æl.a?/ (noun, also used for the verb)
• enPR: ?l?', IPA^(key): /??la?/ (verb, sometimes used for the noun)
• Rhymes: -a?

Verb

ally (third-person singular simple present allies, present participle allying, simple past and past participle allied)

1. (transitive) To unite, or form a connection between, as between families by marriage, or between princes and states by treaty, league, or confederacy.

   • O chief! in blood, and now in arms allied.

2. (transitive) To connect or form a relation between by similitude, resemblance, friendship, or love.
   • The virtue nearest to our vice allied.

Usage notes

• Generally used in the passive form or reflexively.
• Often followed by to or with.

Synonyms

• make common cause

Translations

Noun

ally (plural allies)

1. A person, group, or state (etc) which is associated with another for a common cause; one united to another by treaty or common purpose; a confederate.
2. A person, group, concept (etc) which is associated with another as a helper; a supporter; an auxiliary.
   • 1857, Henry Thomas Buckle, History of Civilization in England:

     Science, instead of being the enemy of religion, becomes its ally.

   1. A person who is not a member of the LGBT+ community but is supportive of it.
   2. An outside supporter of any demographic subject to discrimination and/or misrepresentation.

      I'm glad you want to be a better ally to the disabled.

3. Anything akin to something else by structure, etc.
4. (taxonomy) A closely related species, usually within the same family.

   Gruiformes — cranes and allies

5. (obsolete) A relative; a kinsman.
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Act III, Scene 1:

     This gentleman, the prince's near ally / My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt / In my behalf

Related terms

• alliance

Translations

References

Etymology 2

Diminutive of alabaster.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æli/

Noun

ally (plural allies)

1. Alternative form of alley (a glass marble or taw)

References

• ally in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Lyla, y'all, ya'll, yall