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Anonymous vs Identify - What's the difference?

anonymous | identify |

As a proper noun anonymous

is a hacktivist group opposed to internet censorship, government corruption, homophobia and scientology.

As a verb identify is

to establish the identity of someone or something.

anonymous

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (not comparable) Lacking a name; not named and determined, as an animal not assigned to any species.
  • (not comparable) Without any name acknowledged of a person responsible, as that of author, contributor, or the like.
  • an anonymous''' pamphlet; an ' anonymous subscription.
  • (not comparable) Of unknown name; whose name is withheld
  • an anonymous' author; an ' anonymous benefactor.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012
  • , date=April 19 , author=Josh Halliday , title=Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=The shift in the balance of power online has allowed anyone to publish to the world, from dispirited teenagers in south London to an anonymous cyber-dissident in a Middle East autocracy.}}
    No customer personal data will be retained unless it is rendered anonymous .
  • (comparable, figurative) Lacking individuality.
  • an anonymous office block in a soulless industrial estate

    Synonyms

    * (lacking a name) nameless * (without acknowledged responsible agent) * (of unknown name) unidentified, unknown, unnamed * (lacking individuality) faceless * (without consideration of prestige or background) on the merits

    Antonyms

    * onymous

    Derived terms

    () * anonym * anonymously * anonymousness

    See also

    * (wikipedia) * John Doe * unknown

    identify

    English

    Verb

  • To establish the identity of someone or something.
  • *
  • (biology) To establish the taxonomic classification of an organism.
  • *
  • To equate or make the same; to unite or combine into one.
  • * D. Ramsay
  • Every precaution is taken to identify the interests of the people and of the rulers.
  • * Burke
  • Let us identify , let us incorporate ourselves with the people.
  • (reflexive) To have a strong affinity (with); to feel oneself to be modelled on or connected to.
  • * 1999 , Joyce Crick, translating Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams , Oxford 2008, p. 117:
  • The dream is given a new interpretation if in her dream she means not herself but her friend, if she has put herself in the place of her friend, or, as we may say, she has identified herself with her.
  • To associate oneself with some group.
  • *
  • To claim an identity; to describe oneself as a member of a group; to assert the use of a particular term to describe oneself.
  • * {{quote-magazine
  • , year=2010 , author= , title=Youth Who Self-Identify as Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual at Higher Suicide Risk, Say Researchers , date=Feb. 6, 2010 , magazine=Science Daily citation , passage="The main message is that it's the interface between individuals and society that causes students who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual the most distress," said study first author Yue Zhao. }}

    Synonyms

    * to ID