associate

From Latin associo

• Verb: (these pronunciations can also apply to the noun and adjective)
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: əsō'shiāt, əsō'siāt IPA^(key): /əˈsəʊʃieɪt/, /əˈsəʊsieɪt/
  • (General American) enPR: əsō'shiāt, əsō'siāt IPA^(key): /əˈsoʊʃieɪt/, /əˈsoʊsieɪt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Noun and adjective:
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: əsō'shiət, əsō'siət IPA^(key): /əˈsəʊʃi.ət/, /əˈsəʊsi.ət/
  • (General American) enPR: əsō'shiət, əsō'siət IPA^(key): /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, /əˈsoʊsi.ət/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Audio 2 (US)

    (file)

• Hyphenation: as‧so‧ci‧ate

associate (not comparable)

1. Joined with another or others and having equal or nearly equal status.

   He is an associate editor.

2. Having partial status or privileges.

   He is an associate member of the club.

3. Following or accompanying; concomitant.
4. (biology, dated) Connected by habit or sympathy.

   associate motions: those that occur sympathetically, in consequence of preceding motions

   • 1794, Erasmus Darwin, Zoonomia; Or, The Laws of Organic Life, page 36:

     These associate ideas are gradually formed into habits of acting together, by frequent repetition, while they are yet separately obedient to the will; as is evident from the difficulty we experience in gaining so exact an idea of the front of St. Paul's church, as to be able to delineate it with accuracy, or in recollecting a poem of a few pages.

associate (plural associates)

1. A person united with another or others in an act, enterprise, or business; a partner.
2. Somebody with whom one works, coworker, colleague.
3. A companion; a comrade.
4. One that habitually accompanies or is associated with another; an attendant circumstance.
5. A member of an institution or society who is granted only partial status or privileges.
6. (algebra) One of a pair of elements of an integral domain (or a ring) such that the two elements are divisible by each other (or, equivalently, such that each one can be expressed as the product of the other with a unit).

• See also Thesaurus:associate

associate (third-person singular simple present associates, present participle associating, simple past and past participle associated)

1. (intransitive) To join in or form a league, union, or association.
2. (intransitive) To spend time socially; keep company.

   She associates with her coworkers on weekends.

   • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, OCLC 5661828:

     As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, […]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. […] I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.

3. (transitive) To join as a partner, ally, or friend.
4. (transitive) To connect or join together; combine.

   particles of gold associated with other substances

5. (transitive) To connect evidentially, or in the mind or imagination.
   • 1819 September 21, John Keats, letter to John Hamilton Reynolds:

     I always somehow associate Chatterton with autumn.

   • 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II‎:

     He succeeded in associating his name inseparably with some names which will last as long as our language.

   • 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:

     Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident.

6. (reflexive, in deliberative bodies) To endorse.
   • 1999 August 4-5, Congress, Congressional Record, volume 145, page 19343:

     Mr. President, I rise to associate myself with the remarks of my senior Senator from Louisiana who has led this fight successfully for many years

7. (mathematics) To be associative.
8. (transitive, obsolete) To accompany; to be in the company of.
   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act V, scene iii:

     Friends should associate friends in grief and woe

• (to connect or join together): attach, join, put together, unite; see also Thesaurus:join

• disassociate

• association
• associative

• “associate” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

associate

1. second-person plural present indicative of associare
2. second-person plural imperative of associare
3. second-person plural present subjunctive of associare
4. feminine plural of associato

associāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of associō