ASSOCIATION

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does association mean? 

• ASSOCIATION (noun)
  The noun ASSOCIATION has 8 senses:

1. a formal organization of people or groups of people

2. the act of consorting with or joining with others

3. the state of being connected together as in memory or imagination

4. the process of bringing ideas or events together in memory or imagination

5. a social or business relationship

6. a relation resulting from interaction or dependence

7. (chemistry) any process of combination (especially in solution) that depends on relatively weak chemical bonding

8. (ecology) a group of organisms (plants and animals) that live together in a certain geographical region and constitute a community with a few dominant species

  Familiarity information: ASSOCIATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ASSOCIATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A formal organization of people or groups of people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

he joined the Modern Language Association

Hypernyms ("association" is a kind of...):

organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)

Meronyms (members of "association"):

chapter (a local branch of some fraternity or association)

associate (a person who joins with others in some activity or endeavor)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "association"):

consortium; pool; syndicate (an association of companies for some definite purpose)

ASEAN; Association of Southeast Asian Nations (an association of nations dedicated to economic and political cooperation in southeastern Asia and who joined with the United States to fight against global terrorism)

National Association of Realtors (a United States association of real estate agents which follows a strict code of ethics)

AARP; Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons (an association of people to promote the welfare of senior citizens)

sisterhood; sistership (an association or society of women who are linked together by a common religion or trade or interest)

institute (an association organized to promote art or science or education)

chamber of commerce (an association of businessmen to protect and promote business interests)

legion (association of ex-servicemen)

gang; mob; pack; ring (an association of criminals)

Fabian Society (an association of British socialists who advocate gradual reforms within the law leading to democratic socialism)

professional association (an association of practitioners of a given profession)

secret society (a society that conceals its activities from nonmembers)

conference; league (an association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members)

Veterans of Foreign Wars; VFW (an organization of United States war veterans)

American Legion (the largest organization of United States war veterans)

family; fellowship (an association of people who share common beliefs or activities)

club; gild; guild; lodge; order; social club; society (a formal association of people with similar interests)

cooperative (an association formed and operated for the benefit of those using it)

Southern Baptist Convention (an association of Southern Baptists)

American Baptist Convention; Northern Baptist Convention (an association of Northern Baptists)

Derivation:

associate (bring or come into association or action)

associate (keep company with; hang out with)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of consorting with or joining with others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

you cannot be convicted of criminal guilt by association

Hypernyms ("association" is a kind of...):

social activity (activity considered appropriate on social occasions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "association"):

affiliation (the act of becoming formally connected or joined)

fraternisation; fraternization (associating with others in a brotherly or friendly way; especially with an enemy)

Derivation:

associate (bring or come into association or action)

associate (keep company with; hang out with)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The state of being connected together as in memory or imagination

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

his association of his father with being beaten was too strong to break

Hypernyms ("association" is a kind of...):

unification; union (the state of being joined or united or linked)

Antonym:

disassociation (the state of being unconnected in memory or imagination)

Derivation:

associate (make a logical or causal connection)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The process of bringing ideas or events together in memory or imagination

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

association; connection; connexion

Context example:

conditioning is a form of learning by association

Hypernyms ("association" is a kind of...):

memory; remembering (the cognitive processes whereby past experience is remembered)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "association"):

colligation (the connection of isolated facts by a general hypothesis)

Derivation:

associate (make a logical or causal connection)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A social or business relationship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

affiliation; association; tie; tie-up

Context example:

many close associations with England

Hypernyms ("association" is a kind of...):

relationship (a state involving mutual dealings between people or parties or countries)

Derivation:

associate (bring or come into association or action)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A relation resulting from interaction or dependence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Context example:

the host is not always injured by association with a parasite

Hypernyms ("association" is a kind of...):

relation (an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together)

Derivation:

associate (bring or come into association or action)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(chemistry) any process of combination (especially in solution) that depends on relatively weak chemical bonding

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("association" is a kind of...):

chemical action; chemical change; chemical process ((chemistry) any process determined by the atomic and molecular composition and structure of the substances involved)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "association"):

hydration (the process of combining with water; usually reversible)

solvation (a chemical process in which solvent molecules and molecules or ions of the solute combine to form a compound)

Sense 8

Meaning:

(ecology) a group of organisms (plants and animals) that live together in a certain geographical region and constitute a community with a few dominant species

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("association" is a kind of...):

group; grouping (any number of entities (members) considered as a unit)

Domain category:

bionomics; ecology; environmental science (the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "association"):

antibiosis (an association between organisms that is harmful to one of them or between organisms and a metabolic product of another)

Derivation:

associate (bring or come into association or action)

 Context examples 

Stable association of TBP and BTAF1 requires the presence of DNA.

(B-TFIID Subunit Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

Its use is now limited because of strong association between exposure to benzidine and an increased risk of bladder cancer in humans.

(Benzidine, NCI Thesaurus)

BCL9 recruitment of PYGO to beta-Catenin may permit association with DNA-binding TCF to transcriptionally activate WNT target genes.

(B-Cell Lymphoma 9 Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

In UML modeling, an association that is also a class.

(Association Class, NCI Thesaurus)

In activated platelets, these three signaling pathways are downstream of integrin activation mediated by collagen binding and influence the association of fibrinogen with its receptors.

(Andrographolide, NCI Thesaurus)

An angiosarcoma that develops in association with long standing lymphedema.

(Angiosarcoma Associated with Lymphedema, NCI Thesaurus)

The objective of this initiative is to ensure that the most important biomarker, imaging, and quality of life studies can be initiated in a timely manner in association with late phase clinical trials.

(Biomarker Imaging Quality of Life Studies Funding Program, NCI Thesaurus)

Lastly, association of BTG2 and BTG1 with Caf1 is also reported to modulate transcriptional activity of CAF1.

(BTG Cell Cycle Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This allele, which encodes Chromobox Protein Homolog 5, is involved in epigenetic repression of chromatin, control of gene expression, and association of heterochromatin with the inner nuclear membrane.

(CBX5 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes CD2-associated protein, is involved in the regulation of both cell division and the association of membrane proteins with the cytoskeleton.

(CD2AP wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)