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:
The association was also stronger among Black participants compared with white participants.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
That, notes ALPA, the US pilots' association, would be a welcome development.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
About 63% of all convenience stores are owned by an entity that has 10 or fewer stores, according to NACS, a trade association.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
The Investment Company Institute, the trade association for the fund industry, says that index funds now account for 64% of all the money American investors have in the U.S. stock market.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
She may lose her job because of familial association with treason.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
These associations remained after the researchers accounted for other factors that could have influenced the results, including childhood cognitive ability, education level and childhood disadvantage.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
However, he also defended the proposal, saying, "we stand behind the motivations of FFE", and that its intention "was to direct more capital and equity equally" among Fifa's 211 member associations.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
For now, however, the new findings show statistical associations rather than proof that particular sleep patterns cause or predict the disease.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
A better conservative response would reopen space for families, churches, charities, small businesses and local associations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Necessity being the mother of invention, black people created their own transit system, an informal network of bus routes, controlled by private associations operating entirely outside the law.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
