1. (

• association

) a formal organization of people or groups of people; "he joined the Modern Language Association" ;

2. (

• association

) the act of consorting with or joining with others; "you cannot be convicted of criminal guilt by association" ;

3. (

• association ,

) 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. (

• association ,
• connection ,
• connexion

) the process of bringing ideas or events together in memory or imagination; "conditioning is a form of learning by association" ;

5. (

• affiliation ,
• association ,
• tie ,
• tie-up

) 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. (

• association

) 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. (

• association

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

8. (

• association ,

) (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 ;