association
Americannoun
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associations
plural
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an organization of people with a common purpose and having a formal structure.
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the act of associating or state of being associated.
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friendship; companionship.
Their close association did not last long.
- Synonyms:
- fellowship
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connection or combination.
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the connection or relation of ideas, feelings, sensations, etc.; correlation of elements of perception, reasoning, or the like.
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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.
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Ecology. a group of plants of one or more species living together under uniform environmental conditions and having a uniform and distinctive aspect.
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Chemistry. a weak form of chemical bonding involving aggregation of molecules of the same compound.
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Astronomy. stellar association.
noun
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a group of people having a common purpose or interest; a society or club
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the act of associating or the state of being associated
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friendship or companionship
their association will not last
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a mental connection of ideas, feelings, or sensations
association of revolution with bloodshed
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psychol the mental process of linking ideas so that the recurrence of one idea automatically recalls the other See also free association
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chem the formation of groups of molecules and ions, esp in liquids, held together by weak chemical bonds
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ecology a group of similar plants that grow in a uniform environment and contain one or more dominant species
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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interassociationnoun
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nonassociationnoun
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reassociationnoun
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subassociationnoun
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associationaladjective
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nonassociationaladjective
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proassociationadjective
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pseudoassociationaladjective
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subassociationaladjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of association
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French, from Medieval Latin associātiōn-, stem of associātiō “accompaniment, unification”; equivalent to associate + -ion
Explanation
Association has to do with things that are together, whether in a formal group like the National Basketball Association or just two things that are related, like the association between dogs and parks. Any time people or things are connected, there are associations. The National Basketball Association is an example of the business meaning of association — a formal organization or group that works together. If you ask, "What is your association with Bill?" That just means, "How are you connected to Bill?" You can also make mental associations — you might make an association between the smell of fresh bread and your grandmother's kitchen, for example.
Vocabulary lists containing association
Working Together: The Language of Unions
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Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789)
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Catching Fire
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In 2024, Russian hackers commandeered residential webcams in Kyiv, including one installed by a condominium association to monitor the neighborhood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Residents living in a block of flats have won a legal battle against their housing association - after being faced with a service charge increase of more than 300 per cent.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Florida Realtors, the state’s real-estate trade association, announced its support for the proposed tax cuts in August.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
On Wednesday, the BGA, Germany’s main trade association, hiked its export growth forecast for this year to 1% from 0.6%, boosted by solid demand within Europe, but signaled the global trade remained highly uncertain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
For reasons we had not spoken of, yet each of us understood, none of us was ready to reveal our association.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
This seemingly bizarre choice soon comes to feel entirely natural, invoking associations with Ireland as a place of verbal, theatrical and musical creativity under duress from another power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
"African football associations accept these deals because everything is taken care of. It saves them having to find opponents and organise friendlies," explained an expert on African football who asked not to be named.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Police officials say they no longer have access to the company’s cameras, many of which are owned by homeowners associations and other private groups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
He was distracted by an incessant interior clamor of associations and speculations vying for his attention.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
