(eye-DEN-tih-fy)
Origin
From French identifier, formed from Medieval Latin identificare, meaning “to make the same” or “to treat as identical.” It developed from Latin elements connected with idem, meaning “the same,” and facere, meaning “to make.”
Language Root
Latin — idem (“the same”) + facere (“to make or do”), through Medieval Latin identificare.
Original Meaning
To make, regard, or establish something as identical with something else.
Evolution Over Time
Identify initially centered on establishing sameness between things. As the word developed, it increasingly described determining exactly who or what something was. This produced familiar meanings such as identifying a person, identifying the cause of a problem, or identifying an unknown object. Psychology and sociology added another dimension through expressions such as “identify with,” describing a person’s association with or emotional connection to another person, group, role, or idea.
Modern Usage
To recognize, determine, or establish the identity or nature of someone or something. It can also mean associating oneself with a particular person, group, characteristic, belief, or identity.
Narrative
Identify and identity are built around the same ancient idea: sameness. The Latin idem meant “the same,” while facere meant “to make.” At its historical core, identifying something involved establishing that one thing was the same as another. That idea eventually became one of recognition: matching a face to a name, an object to a description, or evidence to a cause. Then the word turned inward. People could “identify with” someone else—not because they were literally the same person, but because they recognized something of themselves in another. A word that began with establishing sameness ultimately became a way of discovering both what something is and where we see ourselves within it.