- nounassociation (noun) · associations (plural noun)
- a connection or cooperative link between people or organizations:"he developed a close association with the university" · "the programme was promoted in association with the Department of Music"
- the process or state of becoming a subordinate member of an organization:"an association agreement between Bulgaria and the EU"
- chemistrythe linking of molecules through hydrogen bonding or other interaction short of full bond formation.
- (associations)a mental connection between things:"the word bureaucracy has unpleasant associations"
- the action of making a mental connection:"there's nothing new in the association of fasting with spirituality"
- the state of occurring with something else; co-occurrence:"cases of cancer found in association with colitis"
Originmid 16th century (in the sense ‘uniting in a common purpose’): from medieval Latin associatio(n-), from Latin associare ‘to unite, ally’ (see associate).