identify
[verb]
Synonyms:
- recognize, diagnose, make out, name, pick out, pinpoint, place, put one's finger on (informal), spot
- identify with: relate to, associate with, empathize with, feel for, respond to

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Related Words: find, determine, establish, make out, pick out, select, separate (out)

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English Thesaurus: recognize, identify, distinguish, make something/somebody out, discern, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

i‧den‧ti‧fy S2 W1 AC /aɪˈdentəfaɪ, aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ verb (past tense and past participle identified, present participle identifying, third person singular identifies) [transitive]
[Word Family: noun: identification, identity; adjective: identifiable, unidentified; verb: identify]
[Date: 1600-1700; Language: 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 somebody/something as somebody/something
Eyewitnesses 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 somebody as somebody
His accent identified him as a Frenchman.
identify with phrasal verb

1. identify with somebody/something 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.

2. identify somebody with something 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 something with somebody/something to think that something is the same as, or closely related to, something else:
the attempt to identify crime with poverty and social problems

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

identify
verb
ADV. accurately, correctly The new test will enable us to identify more accurately patients who are most at risk. Did you identify all the pictures correctly?
falsely, incorrectly, wrongly | positively | clearly, unambiguously, unequivocally We have not yet clearly identified the source of the pollution.
formally Someone has to formally identify the body.
easily, readily I could identify him easily if I saw him again.
tentatively All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines.
VERB + IDENTIFY be able/unable to, can tests that can identify people at risk of cancer
be easy to, be possible to | be difficult to | be necessary to | attempt to, seek to, try to | be used to, enable sb to, help to | decline to The newspaper declined to identify the source of the allegations.
PHRASES a means/way of identifying sb/sth one means of identifying the disease in its early stages
PHRASAL VERBS identify with sb
ADV. closely, strongly She identified strongly with the main character in the play.
VERB + IDENTIFY can/could I can't identify with men like him.
identify sb with sth
ADV. closely The policy is closely identified with the prime minister himself.
clearly

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

recognize to know who someone is or what something is, especially because you have seen or heard them before:
I hadn’t seen her for ten years, but I recognized her immediately.
Do you recognize this song?
identify to recognize someone or something and say who or what they are:
As they came closer, I was able to identify two of the group.
It’s delicious but I can’t quite identify the taste.
distinguish to recognize and understand the difference between two or more things or people:
By this age, kids can usually distinguish between right and wrong.
It’s often difficult to distinguish identical twins from each other.
make something/somebody out to be able to see or hear something or someone – used when it is very difficult to do this:
In the distance, I could just make out the outline of an island.
He whispered something but I couldn’t make out what it was.
discern /dɪˈsɜːn $ -ɜːrn/ formal to notice or understand something by looking carefully or thinking about it carefully:
I thought I discerned a faint gleam of hope in his eyes.
A number of differences can be discerned in the data for the three countries.
know to recognize someone or something. Know is often used in everyday English instead of recognize:
How do you know that it is real gold?
I know him from somewhere.
I can’t remember his name, but I know his face.
can tell to be able to recognize someone or something:
I could tell that it was him by his voice.
Can you tell that it’s not real leather?
It’s difficult to be able to tell them apart (=to recognize that they are different).

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲