Definition of "identity" []

• The collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known: "If the broadcast group is the financial guts of the company, the news division is its public identity” ( Bill Powell). (noun)
• The set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group. (noun)
• The quality or condition of being the same as something else. (noun)
• The distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity; individuality. (noun)
• Information, such as an identification number, used to establish or prove a person's individuality, as in providing access to a credit account. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In this sense, then, a thing's essence may be said to constitute its identity, when one uses the word ˜identity™ in this distinctive manner to speak of"
• "E.G. create table table1 (id int identity (1,1) not null, name nvarchar (64)) go insert into table1 ( 'Hello world') go select @@identity"
• "1998, "Criteria of identity and the ˜identity mystic™", Erkenntnis, 48: 281-301."