Definition
Formally, if M is a set, the identity function f on M is defined to be that function with domain and codomain M which satisfies
- f(x) = x for all elements x in M.
In other words, the function assigns to each element x of M the element x of M.
The identity function f on M is often denoted by idM.
In terms of set theory, where a function is defined as a particular kind of binary relation, the identity function is given by the identity relation, or diagonal of M.
Read more about this topic: Identity Function
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“Im beginning to think that the proper definition of Man is an animal that writes letters.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (18321898)
“Beauty, like all other qualities presented to human experience, is relative; and the definition of it becomes unmeaning and useless in proportion to its abstractness. To define beauty not in the most abstract, but in the most concrete terms possible, not to find a universal formula for it, but the formula which expresses most adequately this or that special manifestation of it, is the aim of the true student of aesthetics.”
—Walter Pater (18391894)
“No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than thisdevoted and obedient. This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.”
—Florence Nightingale (18201910)