Meaning & Definition of Association in English

1. A formal organization of people or groups of people

• "He joined the modern language association"

2. The act of consorting with or joining with others

• "You cannot be convicted of criminal guilt by association"

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

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

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

• "Conditioning is a form of learning by association"

5. A social or business relationship

• "A valuable financial affiliation"

• "He was sorry he had to sever his ties with other members of the team"

• "Many close associations with england"

6. A relation resulting from interaction or dependence

• "Flints were found in association with the prehistoric remains of the bear"

• "The host is not always injured by association with a parasite"

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