identity

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle French identité, from Latin idem (“the same”). See identical and idem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪˈdentəti/

Noun

identity (plural identities)

1. Sameness, identicalness; the quality or fact of (several specified things) being the same.
   • 1997, Hydrothermal Vent Fauna, in Advances in Marine Biology: The Biogeography of the Oceans, page 111:

     […] suggesting the two are different stages of the same species. The identity of the two species is further suggested by allozyme analysis […]

2. The difference or character that marks off an individual from the rest of the same kind, selfhood.
   • (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought):
3. A name or persona—the mask or appearance one presents to the world—by which one is known.

   This criminal has taken on several identities.

4. Sense of who one is.

   I've been through so many changes, I have no sense of identity.

   This nation has a strong identity.

5. (algebra, computing) Any function which maps all elements of its domain to themselves.
6. (algebra) An element of an algebraic structure which, when applied to another element under an operation in that structure, yields this, second element.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{sense|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".

• selfhood
• identity function

Derived terms

Terms derived from "identity"

additive identity identity card identity of indiscernibles

identity theft law of identity left identity

mistaken identity multiplicative identity personal identity quasiidentity right identity

Related terms

Terms etymologically related to "identity"

identic identical

identification identify

Translations

the sameness some individuals share to make up the same kind or universal

• Arabic: مطابقة f (taṭābuqa)
• Bashkir: үҙаң (üðañ)
• Catalan: identitat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 個性 (zh), 个性 (zh) (gèxìng), 身分 (zh) (shēnfen), 身份 (zh) (shēnfen)

• Czech: totožnost f, identita f
• Dutch: identiteit (nl) f
• Finnish: identiteetti (fi)
• French: identité (fr) f
• German: Identität (de) f, Gleichheit (de) f
• Greek: ταυτότητα (el) f (taftótita)
• Hebrew: זהות f
• Hungarian: identitás (hu)

• Irish: ionannas m
• Italian: identità  (it)
• Japanese: 同一 (ja) (どういつ, dōitsu)
• Maltese: identità f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: identitet m

  Nynorsk: identitet m

• Polish: tożsamość (pl) f
• Portuguese: identidade (pt) f
• Romanian: identitate (ro) f
• Russian: тожде́ственность (ru) f (toždéstvennostʹ), иденти́чность (ru) f (idɛntíčnostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: ionannachd f
• Spanish: identidad (es) f

the difference or character that marks off an individual from the rest

• Arabic: هوية f (huwiyya)
• Bashkir: үҙаң (üðañ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 同一性 (zh) (tóngyīxìng), 個性 (zh), 个性 (zh) (gèxìng), 特性 (zh) (tèxìng), 身分 (zh) (shēnfen), 身份 (zh) (shēnfèn)

• Czech: identita f
• Danish: identitet c
• Dutch: persoonlijkheid (nl)
• Finnish: identiteetti (fi)
• French: identité (fr) f
• German: Identität (de) f

• Greek: ταυτότητα (el) f (taftótita)
• Hebrew: זהות m
• Hungarian: identitás (hu)
• Japanese: 身元 (みもと, mimoto), 同一性 (どういつせい, dōitsusei), アイデンティティ (aidentiti)
• Maltese: identità f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: identitet m

  Nynorsk: identitet m

• Polish: tożsamość (pl) f
• Portuguese: identidade (pt) f
• Russian: иденти́чность (ru) f (idɛntíčnostʹ), индивидуа́льность (ru) f (individuálʹnostʹ)
• Spanish: identidad (es) f

name or persona

• Arabic: هوية f (huwiyya)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 身分 (zh) (shēnfen), 身份 (zh) (shēnfen)

• Czech: totožnost f, identita f
• Danish: identitet c
• Dutch: identiteit (nl) f
• Finnish: henkilöllisyys
• French: identité (fr) f
• German: Identität (de) f

• Greek: ταυτότητα (el) f (taftótita)
• Hebrew: פֶּרְסוֹנָה  f
• Japanese: 氏名 (ja) (しめい, shimei), 素性 (すじょう, sujō)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: identitet m

  Nynorsk: identitet m

• Polish: tożsamość (pl) f
• Portuguese: identidade (pt) f
• Romanian: identitate (ro) f
• Russian: ли́чность (ru) f (líčnostʹ), ли́чные да́нные n pl (líčnyje dánnyje)
• Spanish: identidad (es) f
• Swedish: identitet (sv) c

knowledge of who one is

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 個性 (zh), 个性 (zh) (gèxìng), 特性 (zh) (tèxìng)

• Czech: totožnost f, identita f
• Danish: identitet c
• Dutch: identiteit (nl) f, identiteiten (nl) pl
• Finnish: identiteetti (fi)
• French: identité (fr) f
• German: Identität (de) f

• Hebrew: זהות f
• Hungarian: identitás (hu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: identitet m

  Nynorsk: identitet m

• Persian: هویت (fa) (hoviyat)
• Portuguese: identidade (pt) f
• Russian: индивидуа́льность (ru) f (individuálʹnostʹ), ли́чность (ru) f (líčnostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: dearbh-aithne f
• Spanish: identidad (es) f
• Swedish: identitet (sv)

algebra: function — see identity function

algebra: element — see identity element

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} identitet
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} идентитет m (identitet), ^{(please verify)} идентичност (bg) f (identičnost), ^{(please verify)} самоличност (bg) f (samoličnost)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} identitet (sh) m
• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} identiteet
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} זהות f (zehut)
• Hungarian: (3) ^{(please verify)} identitás (hu), (4) ^{(please verify)} egységelem

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} identità (it) f
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 동일성 (dongilseong) (1), ^{(please verify)} 신원 (ko) (sinweon)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} identitas f, (genitive) ^{(please verify)} identitatis
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} برابری (fa) (barâbari), ^{(please verify)} همانی (fa) (hamâni), ^{(please verify)} شناسایی (fa) (šenâsâyi)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} identitate (ro) f
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} identita f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} identitet (sv) c
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kimlik (tr)

External links

• identity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• identity in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911