Identity Meaning
/aɪˈdɛntɪti/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounSameness, identicalness; the quality or fact of (several specified things) being the same.
nounThe difference or character that marks off an individual or collective from the rest of the same kind; selfhood; the sense of who something or someone or oneself is, or the recurring characteristics that enable the recognition of such an individual or group by others or themselves.
Sentence Examples
A student should not lose sight of his own identity.
The identity of the lost child was confirmed by its clothes.
The police are trying to discover the identity of the killer.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The stolen wallet contained credit cards and other proof of his ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The secret agent used a false ____ to infiltrate the organization without being detected.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English ydemptite, from Middle French identité and its etymon Late Latin idemptitās, identitās, from idem (“the same”) + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns) as a calque of Ancient Greek ταὐτότης (tautótēs, “sameness”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But whenas a leſſer number of Agreements in each Paralleliſm (provided there were nothing contrary) could not but have been a ſtrong preſumption of the Identity of the Subjects of the Viſions in each Chapter, I mean, That the Two-horned Beaſt and the Whore are one, and the Seven-headed Beaſt in each Chapter the ſame; how fully aſſured muſt we needs be of theſe Identities, the Agreements of theſe two Paralleliſms (thoſe paſſages onely excepted of which I have given ſo fair an account) perfectly exhauſting the whole ſubſtance of each Chapter?"
— 1664, H[enry] More, chapter X, in Synopsis Prophetica; or, The Second Part of the Modest Enquiry into the Mystery of Iniquity: […], London: […] James Flesher, for William Morden […], →OCLC, book I, page 264:
"[…] suggesting the two are different stages of the same species. The identity of the two species is further suggested by allozyme analysis […]"
— 1997, “Hydrothermal Vent Fauna”, in Advances in Marine Biology: The Biogeography of the Oceans, page 111:
"His own identity was fading out into a grey impalpable world: the solid world itself which these dead had one time reared and lived in was dissolving and dwindling."
— 1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “The Dead”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 277:
"On the other hand, ME /ɛu/ preserved its identity into the early Modern English period, and the early writers on orthography and pronunciation normally distinguish between lME /iu/ and lME /ɛu/, the latter of which occurs in words with eME /ɛː/ like dew (OE dēaw), few (OE fēawe), hew (OE hēawan), sew (eME ē < ĕ, OE seowian), shrew (OE scrēawa), etc."
— 2021 July 28, Fausto Cercignani, “On the alleged existence of a vowel /yː/ in early Modern English”, in English Language and Linguistics, volume 26, number 2, Cambridge University Press, →DOI, page 2:
"The body of a well known old identity named James Conroy […] was found in the water yesterday afternoon…"
— 1887 July 19, “Drowned at Williamstown”, in The Age, Melbourne:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The stolen wallet contained credit cards and other proof of his ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The secret agent used a false ____ to infiltrate the organization without being detected.