Definitions for identity
aɪˈdɛn tɪ ti, ɪˈdɛn-iden·ti·ty

Princeton's WordNet(3.44 / 9 votes)Rate this definition:

1. identity, personal identity, individuality(noun)

   the distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity

   "you can lose your identity when you join the army"

2. identity(noun)

   the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known

   "geneticists only recently discovered the identity of the gene that causes it"; "it was too dark to determine his identity"; "she guessed the identity of his lover"

3. identity, identity element, identity operator(noun)

   an operator that leaves unchanged the element on which it operates

   "the identity under numerical multiplication is 1"

4. identity, identicalness, indistinguishability(noun)

   exact sameness

   "they shared an identity of interests"

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. identity(Noun)

   The sameness some individuals share to make up the same kind or universal.

   Etymology: Learned borrowing from Vulgar Latin identitas, from idem. See identical and idem.

2. identity(Noun)

   The difference or character that marks off an individual from the rest of the same kind, selfhood.

   Etymology: Learned borrowing from Vulgar Latin identitas, from idem. See identical and idem.

3. identity(Noun)

   A name or personau2014the mask or appearance one presents to the worldu2014by which one is known.

   This criminal has taken on several identities

   Etymology: Learned borrowing from Vulgar Latin identitas, from idem. See identical and idem.

4. identity(Noun)

   Knowledge of who one is.

   Etymology: Learned borrowing from Vulgar Latin identitas, from idem. See identical and idem.

5. identity(Noun)

   Any function which maps all elements of its domain to themselves.

   Etymology: Learned borrowing from Vulgar Latin identitas, from idem. See identical and idem.

6. identity(Noun)

   An element of an algebraic structure which, when applied to another element under an operation in that structure, yields this, second element.

   Etymology: Learned borrowing from Vulgar Latin identitas, from idem. See identical and idem.

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Identity(noun)

   the state or quality of being identical, or the same; sameness

   Etymology: [F. identit, LL. identitas, fr. L. idem the same, from the root of is he, that; cf. Skr. idam this. Cf. Item.]

2. Identity(noun)

   the condition of being the same with something described or asserted, or of possessing a character claimed; as, to establish the identity of stolen goods

   Etymology: [F. identit, LL. identitas, fr. L. idem the same, from the root of is he, that; cf. Skr. idam this. Cf. Item.]

3. Identity(noun)

   an identical equation

   Etymology: [F. identit, LL. identitas, fr. L. idem the same, from the root of is he, that; cf. Skr. idam this. Cf. Item.]

Freebase(4.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Identity

   In psychology and sociology, identity is a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations. The concept is given a great deal of attention in social psychology and is important in place identity.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Identity

   ī-den′ti-ti, n. state of being the same: sameness.—adj. Iden′tical, the very same: not different.—adv. Iden′tically.—n. Iden′ticalness, identity. [Fr.,—Low L. identitat-em—L. idem, the same.]

Editors Contribution(3.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. identity

   Name, location of birth and date of birth of a person.

   Your name or date of birth forms part of your identity.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 3, 2020  

2. identity

   The features and form that a person has.

   My identity is different that of my twin as we both have different facial features and height.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 16, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'identity' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2500

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'identity' in Nouns Frequency: #1042

How to pronounce identity?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say identity in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of identity in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of identity in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of identity in a Sentence

1. George Stanley McGovern:

   The whole campaign was a tragic case of mistaken identity.

2. David Bowie:

   Even though I was very shy, I found I could get onstage if I had a new identity.

3. Jennifer Teege:

   It's a nice addition -- to know my black heritage, and crucial. It's part of my identity.

4. Dana Fisher:

   Large-scale protest events are opportunities to create collective identity for the people participating and to extend the constituency.

5. Sean Cahill:

   Adolescents are figuring out who they are, and it’s important to be supportive and affirming of Judith Glassgold child and to engage in that process of identity development in a way. . . that’s not harmful to them.

Images & Illustrations of identity

Popularity rank by frequency of use