association

From Latin associātiō, from associāre (perhaps via French association).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˌsəʊʃiˈeɪʃən/, /əˌsəʊsiˈeɪʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˌsoʊʃiˈeɪʃən/, /əˌsoʊsiˈeɪʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

association (countable and uncountable, plural associations)

1. The act of associating.
2. The state of being associated; a connection to or an affiliation with something.
   • 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 164:

     Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?

3. (statistics) Any relationship between two measured quantities that renders them statistically dependent (but not necessarily causal or a correlation).
4. A group of persons associated for a common purpose; an organization; society.
5. (object-oriented programming) Relationship between classes of objects that allows one object instance to cause another to perform an action on its behalf.

• (state of being associated): connection; See also Thesaurus:relation

• guilt by association

• alliance
• coalition
• league
• union

association c (singular definite associationen, plural indefinite associationer)

1. association
   • 2007, Drømmenes dimensioner, Gyldendal A/S (→ISBN), page 83

     Børn blokerer desuden ofte for associationer af angst for drømmeindholdet.

     Furthermore, children often block associations of anxiety for the dream content.

   • 2014, Klaus Kjøller, Sprogets Vej til Sindets Fred, 2. rev. vej, nu med Dit og Dat, KJOELLER.dk (→ISBN)

     I stedet for det dagligsproglige 'tilintetgørelse', som kan rumme negative associationer af ødelæggelse og brutalitet, benytter vi på Sprogets Vej det pluskorrigerede udtryk 'ophævelse'.

     Instead of the everyday word "annihilation", which may contain negative associations of destruction and brutality, we use, on the Way of Language, the plus-corrected [?] expression "cancellation".

   • 2002, Anne Ring Petersen, Storbyens billeder: fra industrialisme til informationsalder, Museum Tusculanum Press (→ISBN), page 113

     ... vil de, skriver Allouay, fortrinsvis vække associationer af urban karakter.

     ... they will, Allouay writes, predominantly arouse associations of an urban/urbane character.

   • 1999, Bogens verden

     ... hvert sted åbner der sig en verden af formrigdom, af mulige associationer, af historier og sammenhænge, som kan foldes ud af det banale.

     ... everywhere, a world of shape-wealth, of possible associations, of stories and connections that can be unfolded from banality opens.

2. group of persons united for some purpose

• “association” in Den Danske Ordbog

From associer.

• IPA^(key): /a.sɔ.sja.sjɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

• Homophone: associations

association f (plural associations)

1. association, society, group
2. (commerce, economics) partnership
3. association (of related terms, ideas etc.), combination
4. (object-oriented programming) association

• “association” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).