Ids

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Abbreviating multiple forms of identification documents ; signifying unique numeric or alphanumeric codes assigned to individuals, objects, or records ; referring to identification systems in computing and security contexts
2. Representing sets of official identifying papers ; denoting assigned distinct numbers or codes used to distinguish specific entities ; indicating technological identifiers for devices, accounts, or records
3. Describing collections of legal or digital identification credentials ; signifying serial, reference, or authentication numbers for people or things ; referring to unique designations in various organizational or technical fields

Etymology: The plural "ids" is simply the plural of "id", so the story belongs to the singular. "Id" has two separate origins that happen to share a spelling. The first is Latin "id", meaning "it", which Sigmund Freud's translator adopted in English to render his German term "das Es" ("the it") for the unconscious part of the mind, using the Latin pronoun because it sounded neutral and scientific. The second is an abbreviation, the kind used for "identification" or "identity", which is the sense behind today's identity papers and identifiers. The modern plural "ids" therefore spans two very different histories: one a Latin pronoun borrowed into psychology, the other a clipped form made for everyday paperwork and computing. The technical identifiers and assigned codes in the current meaning come from that abbreviated sense rather than from Freud's term.

Synonyms: identifications, ID cards