identical

UK/ɪˈdɛntɪkl̩/US/ɪˈdɛntɪkl̩/

adjectiveB23 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,513 of 15,258leans written

Two things are identical when there is no difference between them at all. Two prints from one negative; brothers you cannot tell apart; the flat you are standing in and the one above it, down to the crack in the tiles.

Identical takes to in everyday British English - identical to the original - and with in formal or technical writing: identical with the sample. Identical as and identical than do not exist. The word has no degrees, because there is nothing beyond exactly the same, so almost identical works and very identical does not. Identical twins grow from a single egg and share their genes; non-identical twins do not, whatever they look like. The noun is identity, the adverb identically, and the near word to keep separate is similar, which leaves room for difference where identical leaves none.

Definitions of identical

1adjectiveidenticalExactly the same in every detail.B2~64%
“The two signatures are identical, right down to the loop on the second letter.”
synonyms: indistinguishable, matching
2adjectiveadjectiveThe very same one.B2~2%
“We were reading the identical page and still disagreed about it.”
3adjectivegrownGrown from a single egg, and so alike, said of twins.B2~34%
“The identical twins in the front row swapped seats to confuse the supply teacher.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 20 sentences found in the wild and placed 20 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

Where it comes from

From identic + -al.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Everyday Adjectives, Sharper Adjectives, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 2 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

identical in the wild

In very rare cases, fraternal or (semi-) identical twins can have the same mother and different fathers.
Twin
Fetuses resulting from the same zygote share 100% of their genetic material and hence are called identical.
Multiple birth
For example, consider two children with identical bicycles engaged in a race while their mother is watching.
Identity (philosophy)
Twin studies are studies conducted on identical or fraternal twins.
Twin study
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship.
Sister ship

1 / 5

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Definitions of identical

1adjectiveidenticalExactly the same in every detail.B2~64%

“The two signatures are identical, right down to the loop on the second letter.”

synonyms: indistinguishable, matching

2adjectiveadjectiveThe very same one.B2~2%

“We were reading the identical page and still disagreed about it.”

3adjectivegrownGrown from a single egg, and so alike, said of twins.B2~34%

“The identical twins in the front row swapped seats to confuse the supply teacher.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 20 sentences found in the wild and placed 20 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.