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. }}

Verb

(decid)

To resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle.

The election will be decided on foreign policies.

We must decide our next move.

Her last-minute goal decided the game.

* Shakespeare

The quarrel toucheth none but us alone; / Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.

To make a judgment, especially after deliberation.

You must decide between good and evil.

I have decided that it is healthier to walk to work.

* Bible, 1 Kings xx. 40

So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.

To cause someone to come to a decision.

* 1920 , , "The Adventure of the Three Gables" (Norton edition, 2005, p. 1537),

It decides me to look into the matter, for if it is worth anyone's while to take so much trouble, there must be something in it.

(obsolete) To cut off; to separate.

* Fuller

Our seat denies us traffic here; / The sea, too near, decides us from the rest.