Yes, ID is a Scrabble word!

• An identification card
• The source of psychic energy, subconsciously motivated and derived from instinctual desires and needs. In verb form, ID can refer to the act of identifying.

Sigmund Freud originally created the concept of the ID in psychology in 1924, naming it as one of the three divisions of the psyche (the other two are the ego and superego). As the founder of psychoanalysis, he used the term to represent the body’s most basic instincts and impulses. Fittingly (considering its bare-bones basic vibe), in Latin the word ID means “it”. In mainstream culture, the word ID often shows up in psychoanalytical discussions on college campuses. But it sometimes pops up in those “psychiatry-for-the-masses” articles in popular magazines.

Today, the word ID is most commonly used as a shortened version of “identification,” referring to one’s identity, or specific pieces of ID like a social security card or driver’s license. Because of the epidemic of identity fraud in these troubled times, the word appears regularly in ads promising ways to protect your ID from the vile intentions of criminals. Likewise, pursuing fake IDs is a common activity for older teens determined to go where they’re not allowed or do things they’re not allowed to do (at least until they’re 21).

Ways to use ID in a sentence

• “Yo, you got ID to get in here?”
• “We ID’d him at the door.”
• “The ID is an unconscious source of our most basic instincts.”