id

ID noun · noun · ID verb · ID proper noun

Sayy-DEEUS/ˌaɪˈdi//ˌaɪˈdiː/

Pluralids, IDs, Ids

20 meanings of id

Practice

1
identity cardnoun · IDcountable or uncountableabbreviation
Abbreviation of identification, or of identity document: proof of who someone is, such as an identity card.
The club turned him away because he had no ID.
Please bring a photo ID, such as a passport or driver's license, to the exam.
UsageSay show your ID or no ID for proof in general, and a photo ID, two IDs for cards.
2
nouncountable
In computing, an identifier: a name or value that picks out one particular item.
The API returns an id for every new order, which you can use to look it up later.
Two records with the same id caused the import to fail.
UsageIn code usually lowercase (an id field, user_id), with the plural ids.
Similaridentifier
Note
Its whole job is to be unique: one id should point to one record, so a duplicate id is a bug rather than a coincidence.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Identifiers can identify objects other than records, and uniqueness depends on scope and lifetime. Python explicitly permits different objects with non-overlapping lifetimes to have the same id() value. docs.python.org
3
work out whoverb · IDtransitive
To identify something or someone, such as an object, working out what or who it is.
Detectives used dental records to ID the remains.
The app IDs plants from a single photo of a leaf.
UsageSpellings vary; IDs, IDing and IDed, without an apostrophe, are the tidier choice.
Similaridentify, recognize
4
US stateproper noun · IDabbreviation
Short for Idaho: a state in the northwestern United States, used in addresses and on forms.
The return address read 1420 Main St., Pocatello, ID.
The online form rejected her address until she picked ID from the list of states.
UsageCapitals, no period, after a city in addresses: Boise, ID. In running text, write Idaho.
5
ID/ɪd/
unconscious urgesnoun
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the unconscious, impulsive part of the personality.
Freud pictured the ego as a rider struggling to steer the powerful horse of the id.
The reality show plays straight to the audience's id, rewarding the loudest and most reckless contestants.
UsageUsually the id, beside the ego and the superego.
Note
Freud called this part of the mind Es, simply 'it', and his English translator chose the Latin pronoun id to match, which is why the word looks so bare. Beside ego and superego it completes the familiar trio. Writers now stretch it beyond the clinic to the raw urges of a crowd or a medium, as in a random burble of the internet's id.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Freud used Es for this part of the mind; Es literally means 'it'. gutenberg.org
The English translation adopted Latin id as the equivalent of Es. gutenberg.org
Id, ego and superego are the three components of Freud's structural model. en.wikipedia.org

Less common meanings

6
verb · IDtransitive
To ask to see someone's identification as proof of who they are or how old they are.
Cashiers are trained to ID anyone who looks under forty before selling alcohol.
Guards at the gate IDed every visitor before letting them onto the base.
UsageThe object is the person checked: get IDed at the bar, ID anyone under forty.
Similarcard
Note
Here the object is the person whose card is checked, not something being recognized: a bartender who IDs you wants to see proof of your age, not to work out who you are, which is the job of the identifying verb. Being IDed at the door is a routine step before buying alcohol.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
Checking identification at the entrance to a bar is an established procedure before alcohol purchases. abs.utah.gov
7
see oneself asverb · IDintransitive
To identify as something, thinking of oneself as belonging to a particular group or category.
Most of the students surveyed ID as independents rather than members of a party.
He IDed as a punk all through high school.
UsageUsually ID as + a group: ID as independents.
Similaridentify
8
design theorynoun · IDcountable or uncountableinitialism
Short for intelligent design: the claim, rejected by mainstream science, that some features of living things are best explained by an intelligent designer rather than by natural processes.
Supporters of ID argue that some biological systems are too complex to have arisen through undirected natural processes.
The school board's plan to teach ID alongside evolution ended up in court.
UsageUsed without a or the (supporters of ID); write intelligent design in full at first mention.
9
station messagenoun · IDcountable or uncountable
A short announcement or sequence that tells listeners or viewers which radio or television station or channel they are tuned to.
The DJ faded the song out early so the station ID could run at the top of the hour.
The network commissioned a new set of animated IDs for the fall season.
UsageUsually station ID.
Similarident
Note
Broadcasters usually say station ID, and timing is part of the job: in the US it is required hourly, at a natural break as close to the hour as feasible. It may be read by an announcer or played as a jingle or animated logo, so it also marks the seam between programs.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
This describes a US requirement, not a universal rule. US regulations require identification hourly, at a natural break as close to the hour as feasible; they do not specify the next break after the hour. ecfr.gov
Station identification may be delivered by an announcer and occur between programs. en.wikipedia.org
Station identification may take a musical form. bayarearadio.org
A channel ident may be computer animated. ravensbourne.ac.uk
Idents mark transitions between programs. en.wikipedia.org
10
pronoun
Alternative form of id., short for Latin idem, used in citations to mean the same source as the one just named.
11
noun
Short for intellectual disability: a condition, starting in childhood, marked by significant limits in reasoning, learning and everyday life skills.
12
noun
Short for inside diameter or inner diameter or internal diameter: the width across the inside of a pipe, tube or ring, measured from inner wall to inner wall.
13
noun
Short for image description: a written description of what an image shows, added to a post especially for people who cannot see it.
14
adjective
Short for intellectually disabled: having an intellectual disability, a condition marked by significant limits in reasoning, learning and everyday skills.
15
noun
Short for industrial design: the design of products made in large numbers by factories, balancing looks, use and cost.
16
noun
In electronic dance music, a track whose title or artist has not been made public, often because it is not yet released.
17
proper nounIndia
Another spelling of Eid: the name of the Muslim festivals Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, or the holiday on which one falls.
18
noun
Short for iron deficiency: too little iron in the body, which can lead to anemia.
19
noun
Short for industry discount: a heavily discounted air fare for airline staff, usually on a standby basis.
20
noun
Another spelling of ide: a freshwater fish of the carp family found in northern Europe and Asia.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of id apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meaning 2

An abbreviation of identifier.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

Id is an abbreviation of identifier. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 5

From New Latin id ("it"), chosen by Freud's English translator to render his German Es ("it"), the pronoun es used as a noun.

Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

English id derives from New Latin id, meaning "it". en.wiktionary.org
Freud's English translator adopted id to translate German Es, meaning "it". gutenberg.org
German Es is the pronoun es used as a noun. en.wiktionary.org