identity

n 1: the distinct personality of an individual regarded as a

persisting entity: "you can lose your identity when you

join the army" [syn: {individuality}]

2: collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a

thing is recognizable or known

3: an operator that leaves unchanged the element on which it

operates; "the identity under numerical multiplication is

1" [syn: {identity element}, {identity operator}]

4: exact sameness; "they shared an identity of interests" [syn:

{identicalness}, {indistinguishability}]