association

[uh-soh-see-ey-shuhn, -shee-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR association ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an organization of people with a common purpose and having a formal structure.

the act of associating or state of being associated.

friendship; companionship: Their close association did not last long.

connection or combination.

the connection or relation of ideas, feelings, sensations, etc.; correlation of elements of perception, reasoning, or the like.

an idea, image, feeling, etc., suggested by or connected with something other than itself; an accompanying thought, emotion, or the like; an overtone or connotation: My associations with that painting are of springlike days.

Ecology. a group of plants of one or more species living together under uniform environmental conditions and having a uniform and distinctive aspect.

Chemistry. a weak form of chemical bonding involving aggregation of molecules of the same compound.

touch football.

Astronomy. stellar association.

Origin of association

1525–35; (< Middle French) < Medieval Latin associātiōn- (stem of associātiō). See associate, -ion

Related formsas·so·ci·a·tion·al, adjectivein·ter·as·so·ci·a·tion, nounnon·as·so·ci·a·tion, nounnon·as·so·ci·a·tion·al, adjectivepro·as·so·ci·a·tion, adjectivepseu·do·as·so·ci·a·tion·al, adjectivere·as·so·ci·a·tion, nounsub·as·so·ci·a·tion, nounsub·as·so·ci·a·tion·al, adjective

Synonyms for association

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR association ON THESAURUS.COM

1. alliance, union; society, company; band. 3. fellowship.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for association

club, league, guild, federation, tribe, union, corporation, company, partnership, society, cooperative, organization, cooperation, alliance, family, tie-in, clique, affiliation, gang, mob

Examples from the Web for association

Contemporary Examples of association

The juxtaposition planted a story of association on websites that touted both men for their talks.
The Price of Steve Scalise’s Silence
Jason Berry
January 7, 2015
Delta is a Platinum Global Partner, ranking them among the highest-level contributors to the association.
How You Can Help Make a More LGBT-Friendly World
December 12, 2014
“It doesn't require the association to immediately adopt the listed protections,” Hruby wrote.
Will the NCAA Let Ohio State’s Kosta Karageorge Die in Vain?
Robert Silverman
December 1, 2014
As is common in North Korea, family members of “enemies of the people” are presumed guilty by association.
How ‘Titanic ’Helped This Brave Young Woman Escape North Korea’s Totalitarian State
Lizzie Crocker
October 31, 2014
It makes her association with Zaitokukai and their criminally inclined members highly problematic.
For Top Pols In Japan Crime Doesn’t Pay, But Hate Crime Does
Jake Adelstein, Angela Erika Kubo
September 26, 2014

Historical Examples of association

It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
Her eyes were so blue that but for the association he would have called her Sapphira.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
Otherwise the agent will soon put an end to the Association.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 12, June 18, 1870
Various
Anyone shall have the right to belong to any association and to leave it when he pleases.
Freeland
Theodor Hertzka
There are no proprietors--merely usufructuaries of the association's capital.
Freeland
Theodor Hertzka

British Dictionary definitions for association

association

noun

a group of people having a common purpose or interest; a society or club

the act of associating or the state of being associated

friendship or companionshiptheir association will not last

a mental connection of ideas, feelings, or sensationsassociation of revolution with bloodshed

psychol the mental process of linking ideas so that the recurrence of one idea automatically recalls the otherSee also free association

chem the formation of groups of molecules and ions, esp in liquids, held together by weak chemical bonds

ecology a group of similar plants that grow in a uniform environment and contain one or more dominant species

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for association

1530s, "action of coming together," from Medieval Latin associationem (nominative associatio), noun of action from past participle stem of associare (see associate). Meaning "a body of persons with a common purpose" is from 1650s. Meaning "mental connection" is from 1680s; that of "quality or thing called to mind by something else" is from 1810.

association in Medicine