Identities

How to spell identities

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce identities

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does identities mean?

1. nounThe sets of characteristics, names, or facts by which different people or things are recognised as who or what they are.

Identities in a sentence

• The bank verifies customer identities before approving any large transfer.

• Witnesses kept their identities secret throughout the trial.

Where does identities come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin idem, meaning simply 'the same'. From idem came the late Latin noun identitas, which named the quality of being one and the same thing, a sense that grew partly under the influence of essentitas, an abstract noun for being. English took the singular 'identity' through Old French identite in the late 1500s, first in the philosophical sense of sameness and only later widening to mean the distinguishing character of a person. The plural 'identities' simply adds the regular -ies ending used when a noun ends in a consonant plus -y, which is the small spelling step that trips writers who momentarily expect '-ys'. The same idem root still hides inside 'identical' and 'identify', so picturing those relatives helps fix the -tit- core in the middle.

How the word is built

• ident- (from Latin idem: same)
• -ity (noun suffix forming a quality or state)
• -es (plural)