identity
pronunciation
How to pronounce identity in British English:
UK [aɪˈdentəti]
How to pronounce identity in American English:
US [aɪˈdentəti]
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- Noun:
- the distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity
- the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known
- an operator that leaves unchanged the element on which it operates
- exact sameness
Word Origin
- identity
- identity: [16] The historical meaning of identity is best preserved in its derivative identical [17] – ‘the same’. For its ultimate source was Latin idem ‘same’, a pronoun (formed from id ‘it, that one’ with the suffix -dem) used in English since the 17th century for referring to a previously cited author or text. This formed the basis of late Latin identitās, which meant literally ‘sameness’; the main meaning of its English descendant identity, ‘individuality, set of definitive characteristics’, arose from the notion of something always being the same or always being itself (rather than something else).
- identity (n.)
- c. 1600, "sameness, oneness," from Middle French identité (14c.), from Late Latin (5c.) identitatem (nominative identitas) "sameness," from ident-, comb. form of Latin idem (neuter) "the same" (see identical); abstracted from identidem "over and over," from phrase idem et idem. [For discussion of Latin formation, see entry in OED.] Earlier form of the word in English was idemptitie (1560s), from Medieval Latin idemptitas. Term identity crisis first recorded 1954. Identity theft attested from 1995.
Example
- 1. It hides their identity when committing a crime .
- 2. So , will soccer one day be part of our national identity ?
- 3. If identity is a collection of competing selves what does each of them represent ?
- 4. People suffering from amnesia typically cannot recall their own name or identity .
- 5. Sexuality however , individually , we choose to regard it is a critical aspect of personal identity .