Added 9 October 2026
identity
/aɪˈdɛntɪti/ noun
Latin root: idemptitās Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about identity at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
Sameness, identicalness; the quality or fact of (several specified things) being the same.
Benjamin Franklin established the identity of electricity and lightning.
-
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.
I've been through so many changes, I have no sense of identity.
-
A name or persona—a mask or appearance one presents to the world—by which one is known.
This criminal has taken on several identities.
Origin
From Middle English ydemptite, from Middle French identité and its etymon Late Latin idemptitās, identitās, from idem (“the same”) + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns) as a calque of Ancient Greek ταὐτότης (tautótēs, “sameness”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)