identify

i|den|ti|fy

W1 [aıˈdentıfaı] v past tense and past participle identified present participle identifying third person singular identifies [T]

[Date: 1600-1700; : Late Latin; Origin: identificare, from Latin idem; IDENTITY]

1.) to recognize and correctly name someone or something

▪ He was too far away to be able to identify faces.

▪ The police took fingerprints and identified the body .

identify sb/sth as sb/sth

▪ Eye witnesses identified the gunman as an army sergeant.

▪ The aircraft were identified as American.

2.) to recognize something or discover exactly what it is, what its nature or origin is etc

▪ Scientists have identified the gene that causes abnormal growth.

▪ They identified a number of problem areas.

3.) if a particular thing identifies someone or something, it makes them easy to recognize

identify sb as sb

▪ His accent identified him as a Frenchman.

identify with phr v

1.) identify with sb/sth

to feel sympathy with someone or be able to share their feelings

▪ Humans can easily identify with the emotional expressions of chimpanzees.

▪ He identified with our distress and despair.

2.) identify sb with sth

to think that someone is very closely related to or involved with something such as a political group

▪ She has always been identified with the radical left.

3.) identify sth with sb/sth

to think that something is the same as, or closely related to, something else

▪ the attempt to identify crime with poverty and social problems