identigi

The honest decode is one step longer than it looks. Underneath is the adjective identa, identical, from Latin idem, the same. On that sits -ig-, the suffix that means to make something into what the root says. So identigi is literally to make identical, and the sense you want falls out of that: to establish that this thing and that thing are the same one. English identify has the same history and has worn it smooth; Esperanto keeps the joint visible.

Identa does not have a page here yet, which is worth saying rather than pretending. It sits outside this course's ranked list, and the derived verb is simply the commoner word in print. That happens: you meet a build before you meet its base, exactly as with forviŝi and viŝi in the last chapter.

The -ig- against -iĝ- contrast runs straight through this word.Identigi is transitive and takes an object: you identify somebody. Identiĝi is the intransitive twin and means to become identified, or to identify oneself with something. The full argument for that pair is in the igi and iĝi article, and this is a clean example to test yourself on. The rest of the family: identeco is identity, identigilo is an identity card or any means of identification, and identigado is the process of identifying.

Do not read it as rekoni. Recognising is something that happens to you, a sudden knowing; identifying is something you do, often with a document and often on purpose. A witness can rekoni a face and still be unable to identigi the person.