identify: Meaning and Definition of

i•den•ti•fy

Pronunciation: (ī-den'tu-fī", i-den'-), [key]
— v., -fied, -fy•ing.
—v.t.
  1. to recognize or establish as being a particular person or thing; verify the identity of: to identify handwriting; to identify the bearer of a check.
  2. to serve as a means of identification for: His gruff voice quickly identified him.
  3. to make, represent to be, or regard or treat as the same or identical: They identified Jones with the progress of the company.
  4. to associate in name, feeling, interest, action, etc. (usually fol. by with): He preferred not to identify himself with that group.
  5. to determine to what group (a given specimen) belongs.
  6. to associate (one or oneself&hasp;) with another person or a group of persons by identification.
—v.i.
  1. to experience psychological identification: The audience identified with the play's characters.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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