identityi‧den‧ti‧ty /aɪˈdentəti/ ●●○ W2 AWL noun (plural identities) 
The identity of the killer is still unknown.2[uncountable] the qualities and attitudes that a person or group of people have, that make them different from other people: Children need continuity, security, and a sense of identity. Travelling alone can lead to a loss of identity.national/cultural/social etc identity (=a strong feeling of belonging to a particular group, race etc) Our strong sense of national identity has been shaped by our history.identity crisis/crisis of identity (=a feeling of uncertainty about who you really are and what your purpose is) My father experienced an identity crisis in middle age.3[uncountable] formal exact similarity between two thingsCOLLOCATIONSadjectivessomebody’s real/true identity· The true identity of the author was not revealed until 100 years later.a new/different identity· He avoided arrest by adopting a new identity.a false identity (=when someone pretends to be another person)· He used a fake passport to assume a false identity.verbsfind out/discover somebody’s identity· The police have yet to discover the victim’s identity.know somebody’s identity· He wanted to know the identity of his real father.hide/conceal somebody’s identity· She used a false name to conceal her identity.reveal/disclose somebody’s identity (=show or say who a person is)· The company did not reveal the identity of the prospective buyer.give away somebody’s identity (=accidentally reveal it)· The thief gave away his identity by mistake.protect somebody’s identity (=make sure no one finds out who someone is)· Journalists frequently protect the identity of confidential sources.adopt/assume an identity (=give yourself a new identity)· She assumed a false identity and went to live in South America.identity + NOUNidentity card/papers/documents (=documents that show who you are)· Each member of staff is issued with an identity card.an identity parade British English (=when someone looks at a line of people to see if they recognize a criminal)· The victim identified her attacker from an identity parade.identity theft/fraud (=the crime of stealing another person's personal details in order to pretend to be that person)· Identity theft is becoming more and more common because of the Internet.phrasesproof of identity (=something that proves you are who you say you are)· You’ll need proof of identity, such as a driving licence.a case of mistaken identity (=when people think that someone is a different person, especially with the result that they are accused of something that they did not do)· The defendant claimed he’d been arrested in a case of mistaken identity.
WORD ORIGINidentity
Origin:
1500-1600 Late Latin identitas, from Latin idem ‘same’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Many teenagers play sports to gain a sense of identity.
- She was afraid marriage would cause her to lose her identity.
- Some fear the community is losing its Hispanic-Indian identity.
- The islanders are proud of their strong regional identity.
- We still don't know the identity of the other man in the picture.
- All of this roster movement makes it hard to establish an identity for a team.
- As the movement progressed, his identity with it became known.
- Each class needs to take a group identity.
- I had no identity, or only a negative identity.
- The party had not yet come to terms with the departure of Mrs Thatcher and was suffering an identity crisis.
- They were losing touch with their identity.
- We made visible to ourselves the complex, multiplicity of our identities.
Longman Language Activatora definite character that makes someone different from other people
the definite character that a person or group sees themselves as having, which lets them feel different and separate from everyone else: · She was afraid marriage would cause her to lose her identity.· The islanders are proud of their strong regional identity.sense of identity (=the feeling that you have a strong identity): · Many teenagers play sports to gain a sense of identity.
the quality of being clearly different from other people and having your own personal character: · It's difficult to be part of a highly organized group such as the armed forces without losing some of your individuality.· We have a close working relationship while retaining our individuality and separate interests.
the quality of being interesting, friendly, and enjoyable to be with, that makes someone seem very different from most other people: · Everyone loves her for her cheerful personality.· Yes, he's got plenty of talent and ambition, but he's got no personality.· Billie Holiday or Bessie Smith had more personality than a hundred of today's pop singers.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYadjectives The police arrested someone, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
· The true identity of the author was not revealed until 100 years later.
· He avoided arrest by adopting a new identity.
(=when someone pretends to be another person)· He used a fake passport to assume a false identity.
verbs· The police have yet to discover the victim’s identity.
· He wanted to know the identity of his real father.
· She used a false name to conceal her identity.
(=show or say who a person is)· The company did not reveal the identity of the prospective buyer.
(=accidentally reveal it)· The thief gave away his identity by mistake.
(=make sure no one finds out who someone is)· Journalists frequently protect the identity of confidential sources.
(=give yourself a new identity)· She assumed a false identity and went to live in South America.
identity + NOUN (=documents that show who you are)· Each member of staff is issued with an identity card.
British English (=when someone looks at a line of people to see if they recognize a criminal)· The victim identified her attacker from an identity parade.
(=the crime of stealing another person's personal details in order to pretend to be that person)· Identity theft is becoming more and more common because of the Internet.
phrases (=something that proves you are who you say you are)· You’ll need proof of identity, such as a driving licence.
(=when people think that someone is a different person, especially with the result that they are accused of something that they did not do)· The defendant claimed he’d been arrested in a case of mistaken identity.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES (=one that proves who you are)· All US citizens must carry an identity card.
(=the way a company presents itself to the public)· Our new logo is part of the process of developing our corporate identity.
(=feeling of belonging to a particular group and sharing its values)· Children develop a sense of their racial and cultural identity at a young age.
(=the feeling of belonging to one race or national group)· These small tribal communities share a common ethnic identity.
(=whether someone is male or female)· Gender identity refers to our inner feeling of being masculine or feminine.
The police arrested someone, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. (=something that proves who you are)· Do you have any proof of identity, such as a passport?
(=a feeling of knowing who you are and how you belong to a community)· Change can threaten our fragile sense of identity.
· Every baby had a name tag on his or her wrist.
(=when someone steals your personal information and uses it to obtain goods or money)· Credit card companies and banks bear the financial loss, rather than the victim of the identity theft.
· He knew someone would soon discover his true identity.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· All these contributed much to a sense of fellowship and corporate social identity as well as providing opportunities for personal development and individual enrichment.· What Gutfreund said has become a legend at Salomon Brothers and a visceral part of its corporate identity.· The Rentokil corporate identity has been updated for the 90's.· The corporate identity image has been slow to disappear, with the old standard liveries lingering even on Intercity services.· This last, where a new corporate identity has been developed and recently launched, is particularly important in international markets.· Instinctive acceptance of a corporate identity for this constituency forced the party into an integrative role on two distinct but related fronts.· The purpose of the letterhead is to produce a corporate identity.· By the beginning of the eighteenth century the diplomats appeared to possess a kind of corporate identity.
· However, I had already begun the process, long before coming over, of minimizing and dismissing my cultural identity.· The legislation was largely inspired by the priority which the regional parties gave to preserving local cultural identities.· He is adamant that any open manifestation of religious or cultural identity at school goes against the principles of secular state education.· However, Scottishness exists without a separate government. Cultural identity forms over hundreds of years and can not be imposed.· A consideration of these ideas fostered the recognition that the children had social, racial and cultural identities as well as disabilities.· Ever since, the Nez Perce have been one of the most politically astute tribes, successfully holding on to their cultural identity.· Lay ideas and theories are seen to be the product of the individual's experiences and cultural inheritance or identity.· Romantic nationalism based on the demand for recognition of cultural identity was a sentiment which moved the educated middle classes.
· This paper will argue the importance of indigenous ethnic identity in influencing economic development in the region.· In feminist research on poverty and resources within households; respondents again tend to be given no ethnic identity.· The few available academic studies have shown that the adopted children grow up well-adjusted and comfortable with their ethnic identity.· For instance, if one knew a person's ethnic identity one could predict his or her religion with some confidence.· But even then, the claim to ethnic identity was more often fictional.· In the mid-90s the government redrew its internal boundaries to reflect ethnic identity.· Adherence to ethnic identities appears to be growing in strength all over the world.
· Many people have been tricked by villains with false identity cards.· Under a false identity, he's living it up in Florence, dining out with the aristocracy.
· History was on the other hand associated with stability, with coherent and fixed national and individual identities.· Their individual and social identities were informed by participating in rituals and traditions rather than by reflection.· Growing up black involves asserting an individual identity, and an ethnic identity.· But the colors, too, never blend, and retain their individual identity.· Establishing an ethnic identity itself facilitates the assertion of an individual identity.· A steady paper trail of bills, grades, pay stubs, and catalogs helps us create our individual identity.· On admission a person tends to lose an individual identity.· What is it that gives a particular person his individual identity?
· He has a several years of experience of conducting interviews on national identity.· A question of national identity is at play.· I am still learning the power of national identity.· For many there was a substantial overlap between religious and national identity.· Now his incantations of the old slogans of national independence and identity sounded more and more hollow.· That is not to say that such ambiguity prevents people from claiming a national identity.· Suffused by a kind of fashionable search for the Key to All Mythologies but also with Breton national identity and culture.· History was on the other hand associated with stability, with coherent and fixed national and individual identities.
· Brown said Chapdelaine would live for a year in her new gender identity before surgery could be considered.· We consider their initial motivation for management and then follow as they evolve a new professional identity and managerial character.· However, this theory largely ignores the process of learning new faces and new identities.· At the very worst, they could take on new identities, live under different names.· He has gained a new identity, but its nature is unclear to him.· Finally mustering the courage to act, Blue reaches into his bag of disguises and casts about for a new identity.· One of the first questions asked concerned the cost of introducing the new identity.· Some people, unable to forge an acceptable new identity out of the old, fought the changes.
· The analogy between the identity of a living body and that of personal identity makes this plausible.· They committed themselves to form a new professional and personal identity.· Trials Loss of personal identity through looking after others.· We think we are people with a personal identity extending over time to which we refer our experiences.· Those in public and privately rented housing do not obtain the same sense of personal identity.· They made an initial commitment to form a new professional and personal identity, oriented toward managing people, not technical tasks.· Lack of privacy, loss of security and personal identity and isolation from family and friends may also contribute to anxiety.· My youth seemed interminable because my personal identity was unclear, and in the resulting fog the gauge of time became unmeasurable.
· A consideration of these ideas fostered the recognition that the children had social, racial and cultural identities as well as disabilities.· More children growing up in a world so increasingly diverse that stock racial identities no longer hold up.· It is curious and extremely unfortunate that this evidence has been ignored and the significance of racial identity minimised.· Consequently, they may neglect the child's need to develop a balanced racial identity and thereby a well-integrated personality.· New cultural and political spaces have been opened up, and hegemonic racial identities and structures have been loosened.· For them the vital issue of racial identity confusion does not exist.· It is often the children of such families who have the most profound racial identity crisis.
· Field independence also relates to one's sense of separate identity, or developed sense of one's own feelings and needs.· The sense of a distinct, separate identity fades and is replaced by a metamorphic self-image.· It has been stripped of its separate identity and made dependent on the market and government for its survival.· We shall see how it is that different particles of the same type can not have separate identities from one another.· Various devices were used to encourage the development of separate identities between the two groups.· It was necessary for the early skins to obtain a separate musical identity.· During this process gods worshipped in the same animal eventually fused together, while other retained a separate identity.
· All these contributed much to a sense of fellowship and corporate social identity as well as providing opportunities for personal development and individual enrichment.· Their individual and social identities were informed by participating in rituals and traditions rather than by reflection.· Emphasis is being placed on the cognitive basis of social identity in contrast to the more familiar emphasis on evaluations.· The unambiguous identity of a child's father is crucial for the child's own social identity.· Unemployment does not only deny an adequate income, it can create deep crises of social identity.· Individuals need a social identity - a sense of peoplehood - if they are to identify, develop and function in society.· The social identities of its priests, lay employees, and worshippers, are being determined.· Besides being a political coalition, the Frente Amplio had a social movement identity.
· But in the presence of a strong ego identity such manoeuvres would not be necessary.· The Sikhs have a very strong identity as a religious community and an ethnic group.· Their varied and imaginative tactics grew out of a strong collective identity developed in the face of the hostility they encountered from management.· Stax had never established a strong identity in Los Angeles.· Galicia, too, has its own language and a very strong sense of identity.· Madeira has its own very strong regional identity.· Palatine are a regional brewery with a strong Cheshire-Lancashire identity, and we felt that a pie-based menu was particularly appropriate.
· Because as the days and weeks unfold so will the true identity of her baby.· Veterinary examination revealed the true identity of the horse and led to a spell in Maidstone jail for Willett.· One of the most compelling elements in the myth is the necessity of concealing your true identity.· Chopin's early C minor Sonata provides reassuring evidence that even geniuses take time to find their true voice and identity.· They did not even know his true identity.· Users can appear as they wish and can disguise their true identity or characteristics in many ways.· Others were painted black co disguise their true identity or perhaps consigned to the attic, there to lie forgotten.
NOUN· Su, distraught because thieves had stolen her suitcases, was arrested for allegedly failing to show police an identity card.· They created an administrative grill, issuing identity cards to families, partly to control them and partly to streamline tax collection.· Of course there is no such thing as a forgery-proof identity card.· Cancer cells, like meter readers without identity cards were evidently not to be trusted.· He or she can come back when they have found the identity card.· Many people have been tricked by villains with false identity cards.· A small identity card is also issued to each member and this is worth the price of subscription alone.· Again, do you know all the correct details of a uniform and identity card?
· That means more routine passport checks for every black person living in Britain, and identity cards for everyone.· They created an administrative grill, issuing identity cards to families, partly to control them and partly to streamline tax collection.· Cancer cells, like meter readers without identity cards were evidently not to be trusted.· Five or six Vietcong guys stopped my bus one morning to check the identity cards of the passengers.· His next visit was to the section inside Century House whose speciality is the preparation of very untrue identity cards.· Many people have been tricked by villains with false identity cards.· Transport was scarce and we had to carry special identity cards when we moved from our own villages.
· The party had not yet come to terms with the departure of Mrs Thatcher and was suffering an identity crisis.· Given more time to contemplate the nature of his existence, Doug One suffers from a woeful identity crisis.· In middle age he has experienced a breakdown, an identity crisis, which followed a long illness and an operation.· Why bother being Hollywood if you end up with such an identity crisis?· The result was that the Conservative Party suffered an identity crisis.· Indeed, both parties are undergoing an identity crisis.· Do others who share my fish-related hobbies suffer a similar identity crisis?· Beyond the physical hardships of poverty, he worries about the identity crisis that now afflicts the masses of rural immigrants.
· Brown said Chapdelaine would live for a year in her new gender identity before surgery could be considered.· Some aspects of gender identity also take longer to acquire than socialization theory predicts.· Interviews were the obvious method for researching the interlinked topics of gender identity and subject specialization.· This would have involved giving the criterion of gender identity precedence over physiological criteria.· We are told that irresponsible women get pregnant solely to reinforce their gender identity.· While the above are possibly reinforcing features, school curricula, may also evoke tensions in gender identities.
· Both were picked out from an identity parade by witnesses.· But the way Bridges plays him he'd be the first sicko picked out of an identity parade.· The law stated that she could not be directly involved with the identity parade.· Armed with this information, they wouldn't have picked him out on an identity parade.· Read in studio A police force is trying to encourage more people to take part in identity parades.· Dalziel wouldn't need an identity parade if he wanted to worry Jacko.
VERB· You assume an identity and wade in.· These are interactive fantasy environments with multiple players who generally assume game identities.· The goal is to defeat any attempt to assume another identity while involved with electronic mail or other forms of data communication.
· They're even prepared to change their identity if that's necessary.· Faye Dunaway plays a socialite who has changed her identity to escape her father.· Name and details have been changed to protect identities.· Electronic networks, such as electronic mail and computer bulletin boards, extend this changing political identity even further.· Any attribute of an object can be changed without destroying its identity.· Yes it's true, the Polytechnic of Central London has completely changed identity.· In share sales it is the ownership of the contracting party that is changing rather than the identity of the contracting party.· It seemed odd that a military organisation could have the power to change your entire identity.
· Here the passive enables the speaker to conceal the identity of the informant.· One of the most compelling elements in the myth is the necessity of concealing your true identity.· He concealed his identity with such success that his desire to remain hidden was probably deliberate.
· Departments can also help to create a sense of identity and community, and often have discussion groups available.· A steady paper trail of bills, grades, pay stubs, and catalogs helps us create our individual identity.· It may be necessary to create a new identity or to rediscover the person we used to be.· The attempt to create a shared national identity and to escape the shadow of colonial influence was again evident in 1989.· The consumption of experience becomes a way of creating an identity.· The Profitboss creates that identity, an identity for each individual in the team as well as for the team itself.
· He therefore persuaded a friend to procure him a ticket without disclosing his identity.
· We say that he discovers his identity as he learns to distinguish between his body and the rest of the world.· But we should be clear that we are redressing a difference, not discovering an identity.· Later, when he discovered the identity of the child, then thirteen, he wrote to apologize.· As a soldier under the Whites there was a price on his head; some one would soon discover his true identity.· Countless disciples have begun to discover their new identity as Christians through the same process.· How on earth had Goebbels discovered the identity of the one remaining escapee?· The plaintiff may want, even more than damages, to discover the identity of the source.· As a consequence, a parent is unlikely to discover the identity of an informant if that person has requested confidentiality.
· There are numerous examples of ways in which schools have worked to establish an understanding and identity with the curriculum by parents.· All of this roster movement makes it hard to establish an identity for a team.· Get yourself a suntan. Establish a new identity.· Note how in each case, the belief statement establishes both an organizational identity and the general criteria for measuring effectiveness.· Links with the past establish man's identity.· Stax had never established a strong identity in Los Angeles.· But of course, even here there is pragmatic work to do to establish the identity of the people concerned.· Parents are not the only people to be relegated when couples are establishing a joint identity.
· ISPs do this by giving your computer an identity tag.· Sports gave her her identity, her physical and psychological strength.· Some of them gave a different identity from the one contained in the case file.· Only as they gave up that identity could they begin to accept their identity as manager.· In feminist research on poverty and resources within households; respondents again tend to be given no ethnic identity.· Buying a head gives you an identity in the world.· If you identify to outstanding contribution to profit, proclaim it at your nest team meeting. Give identity to the achievement.· These systems gave people an identity a place, and a sense of belonging.
· The mysterious disguise hid the identity of the figure, but could not conceal that it only had one arm.· To do so, he must hide his identity.· She used the name Blondie to hide her identity.· And they hid their identities, more so than anyone imagined.
· The solar wind loses its identity in the interstellar medium at a distance no less than that of the outer planets.· For many years, I felt I had lost my identity.· Merge with Crystal Palace and lose Wimbledon's identity.· They were losing touch with their identity.· Tears stung her eyes a moment at the thought of her sister losing her identity.· But when you live in another country awhile, you lose your identity and you acquire one from the new country.· However, over-exposure to the arrestant is detrimental in that male and female complements lose their morphological identity due to chromosome contraction.· But I lost my whole identity.
· She is feminine enough to maintain her own identity.
· Anyway, the upshot is an awkward dinner party seasoned with deception and mistaken identity.· Contrived plotting, such as marriages of convenience, trite misunderstandings and mistaken identities, should be avoided.
· Journalists frequently protect the identity of confidential sources from police, courts or government officials.· Name and details have been changed to protect identities.· Kids will have security codes to protect their identities.· The couple, of Acton, West London, can not be named to protect the girl's identity.
· In the face of fame the Bavarian has managed to retain his identity, keeping his feet firmly on the ground.· But the colors, too, never blend, and retain their individual identity.· During this process gods worshipped in the same animal eventually fused together, while other retained a separate identity.· These people want to accept each other and live alongside each other, yet retain their identity.· Some family businesses, on the other hand, must stay small to retain their dynamism and identity.· But the unit will retain a distinctive identity by having tan berets.· The institutions which joined would retain their identity and members would retain their existing designations as well as receive new ones.· Counselling in this case helped a client to retain his sense of identity and purpose.
· Cory reveals his identity as a member of Space Security.· It revealed his identity as the estranged son of a wealthy senator, whom he had served for the past seventeen years.· The Bolton Area Health Authority was forced to reveal his identity after he was named in local newspapers.· Mr Goldinger has declined to answer questions or reveal the identities and the losses suffered by dozens of investors.· She asked the woman on the settee to reveal her identity.· Authorities said Friday night that they had identified the woman but would not reveal her identity until relatives had been notified.· I am also supposed to have died, according to the surprised traders to whom I have revealed my identity over the phone.· It's just that it seems a pity for him to reveal his identity.
WORD FAMILYnounidentificationidentityadjectiveidentifiableunidentifiedverbidentify
1[countable, uncountable] someone’s identity is their name or who they are: The identity of the killer is still unknown.2[uncountable] the qualities and attitudes that a person or group of people have, that make them different from other people: Children need continuity, security, and a sense of identity. Travelling alone can lead to a loss of identity.national/cultural/social etc identity (=a strong feeling of belonging to a particular group, race etc) Our strong sense of national identity has been shaped by our history.identity crisis/crisis of identity (=a feeling of uncertainty about who you really are and what your purpose is) My father experienced an identity crisis in middle age.3[uncountable] formal exact similarity between two thingsCOLLOCATIONSadjectivessomebody’s real/true identity· The true identity of the author was not revealed until 100 years later.a new/different identity· He avoided arrest by adopting a new identity.a false identity (=when someone pretends to be another person)· He used a fake passport to assume a false identity.verbsfind out/discover somebody’s identity· The police have yet to discover the victim’s identity.know somebody’s identity· He wanted to know the identity of his real father.hide/conceal somebody’s identity· She used a false name to conceal her identity.reveal/disclose somebody’s identity (=show or say who a person is)· The company did not reveal the identity of the prospective buyer.give away somebody’s identity (=accidentally reveal it)· The thief gave away his identity by mistake.protect somebody’s identity (=make sure no one finds out who someone is)· Journalists frequently protect the identity of confidential sources.adopt/assume an identity (=give yourself a new identity)· She assumed a false identity and went to live in South America.identity + NOUNidentity card/papers/documents (=documents that show who you are)· Each member of staff is issued with an identity card.an identity parade British English (=when someone looks at a line of people to see if they recognize a criminal)· The victim identified her attacker from an identity parade.identity theft/fraud (=the crime of stealing another person's personal details in order to pretend to be that person)· Identity theft is becoming more and more common because of the Internet.phrasesproof of identity (=something that proves you are who you say you are)· You’ll need proof of identity, such as a driving licence.a case of mistaken identity (=when people think that someone is a different person, especially with the result that they are accused of something that they did not do)· The defendant claimed he’d been arrested in a case of mistaken identity.