DictionaryAI

identification

noun
Sayy-den-ti-fi-KAY-shuhn/aɪˌdɛn(t)ɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/UK/aɪˌdɛntɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

Pluralidentifications

3 meanings of identification

Practice

  1. 1
    recognizingnouncountable or uncountable
    The act or process of recognizing or establishing who or what someone or something is, or an instance of this.

    Accurate identification of mushrooms requires attention to spore color and gill structure.

    Identification proceeds by comparing the specimen against known reference types.

    UsageUsually followed by of: the identification of a suspect, a bird or a problem.

    Note

    In computing and security the word is used strictly, and identification is paired with authentication: claiming to be a particular user is one step, and proving the claim is another. In looser use, and in talk about how the mind recognizes things, the two steps are often folded into one, so a careful writer on network protocols keeps them apart.

  2. 2
    identity papersnouncountable or uncountable
    Documents that serve as evidence of a person's identity.

    The officer asked for identification before letting her into the secure area.

    He left his identification at home and was turned away at the gate.

    UsageUsually without a: show identification, ask for identification; one document is a form of identification. Often shortened to ID.

    SimilarID, papers, documents

  3. 3
    feeling connectednouncountable or uncountable
    A feeling of support, sympathy, understanding, or belonging toward another person or thing.

    Like a fan who feels every win and loss of their team as personal.

    His identification with the refugees deepened after he heard their stories firsthand.

    Many viewers experience a deep identification with the film's underdog hero.

    UsageUse with before the person or thing someone feels connected to: identification with a group, a place or a character.

    Similarempathy, sympathy, affinity, solidarity, kinship

    Oppositealienation, detachment

    Note

    It suits comparisons of loyalty: Britain in the Nineties (1998), edited by Hugh Berrington, sets identification with Britain against identification with the region. It can also accuse, as when someone's identification with authority shows whose side they took.

Practice

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

Origin

It comes from French identification.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact