association

noun

(countable) The state of being associated; a connection to or an affiliation with something.

A group of persons associated for a common purpose; an organization; society.

(uncountable) The act of associating.

(statistics) Any relationship between two measured quantities that renders them statistically dependent (but not necessarily causal or a correlation).

(object-oriented programming) Relationship between classes of objects that allows one object instance to cause another to perform an action on its behalf.

(Philippines, Chinese Filipino) A benevolent overseas Chinese organization of popular origin for overseas Chinese individuals with the same surname, geographical origin, location, trade or business.

Roots

sociussoci- · Latin · companion, ally

Synonyms for association

affiliationn federationn organizationn confederationn sodalityn unionn alliancen consortiumn societyn guildn membershipn confraternityn fraternityn leaguen coalitionn copartnershipn connectionn partnershipn

Synonyms & related words for association

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of association — including affiliation, federation, organization, confederation, sodality, union. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to association

Explore words related to association — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include associational, disaffiliate, guildsman, antibiosis, members, nonmembership, institute, instituter. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for association

Common synonyms for association include affiliation, federation, organization, confederation, sodality, union, alliance, consortium — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does association come from?

The word association breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root soci-, from Latin socius (“companion, ally”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.