identifying

The word “identifying” means serving to show clearly who or what something is. In plain terms, something that helps single out or recognize a person or thing.

Here is “identifying” used in a sentence: “The dog had no identifying tags or microchip.”

Depending on how it is used, “identifying” can be an adjective and a noun.

“Identifying” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Identifying” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: serving to show clearly who or what something is.

Identifying information is any detail that serves to show clearly who a particular person is, such as a full name, home address, date of birth, or ID number. The phrase appears widely in privacy policies and news reporting, where such details are often removed to protect people.

Identifying is the act of working out or naming who or what something is, and as an adjective it describes things that reveal identity, as in "identifying marks." Identification is the related noun for the process or its result — and, in everyday use, for a document that proves who you are.

An identifying mark or feature is a characteristic that serves to show clearly who or what something is — a scar, a serial number, or a distinctive pattern. The phrase is common in police descriptions and in guides for recognizing animals or objects.

Identifying describes something that actively reveals identity, as in "an identifying badge," while identifiable means capable of being recognized or identified, as in "the suspect was identifiable from the footage." In privacy contexts, "personally identifiable information" means data from which a person can be identified.