i|den|ti|ty

i|den|ti|ty «y DEHN tuh tee», noun, plural -ties.

1. who a person is; what a thing is; individuality: »

The writer concealed his identity by signing his stories with a false name.

2. a) an exact likeness; sameness; oneness: »

The identity of the two crimes led the police to think that the same person committed them. Poets would sometimes note the identity of the Sun with Apollo..., with the Egyptian Ra, or the Persian Mithras (Harold Mattingly).

b) an instance of likeness or sameness: »

to note the identities in the two cases.

3. the state or fact of being the same one: »

to establish the identity of a person seen today with one seen yesterday. The museum established the identity of the painting with one described in an old document.

4. = identity element. (Cf. ↑identity element)

5. Algebra. an equation that is satisfied by any number that replaces the letter for which the equation is defined; identical equation.

╂[< Late Latin identitās, ultimately < Latin idem same]