Meaning

Sameness, identicalness; the quality or fact of (several specified things) being the same..

Definitions by Sense

1. Sameness, identicalness; the quality or fact of (several specified things) being the same.
2. The difference or character that marks off an individual or collective from the rest of the same kind; selfhood; the sense of who something or someone or oneself is, or the recurring characteristics that enable the recognition of such an individual or group by others or themselves.
3. A name or persona—a mask or appearance one presents to the world—by which one is known.
4. (mathematics) An equation which always holds true regardless of the choice of input variables.
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.
7. (Australia, New Zealand) A well-known or famous person.

Example Sentences

But whenas a leſſer number of Agreements in each Paralleliſm (provided there were nothing contrary) could not but have been a ſtrong preſumption of the Identity of the Subjects of the Viſions in each Chapter, I mean, That the Two-horned Beaſt and the Whore are one, and the Seven-headed Beaſt in each Chapter the ſame; how fully aſſured muſt we needs be of theſe Identities, the Agreements of theſe two Paralleliſms (thoſe paſſages onely excepted of which I have given ſo fair an account) perfectly exhauſting the whole ſubſtance of each Chapter?

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

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

This nation has a strong identity.

His own identity was fading out into a grey impalpable world: the solid world itself which these dead had one time reared and lived in was dissolving and dwindling.

On the other hand, ME /ɛu/ preserved its identity into the early Modern English period, and the early writers on orthography and pronunciation normally distinguish between lME /iu/ and lME /ɛu/, the latter of which occurs in words with eME /ɛː/ like dew (OE dēaw), few (OE fēawe), hew (OE hēawan), sew (eME ē < ĕ, OE seowian), shrew (OE scrēawa), etc.

This criminal has taken on several identities.

In this show, the competitor's identity will remain secret until after the vote.

Word Forms

• identities

Synonyms for identity

Antonyms for identity

Related Words

When Should You Use Identity?

Use identity when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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