ASSOCIATION

A formal organization of people or groups of people

Example: "He joined the modern language association"

The act of consorting with or joining with others

Example: "You cannot be convicted of criminal guilt by association"

The state of being connected together as in memory or imagination

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

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

Example: "Conditioning is a form of learning by association"

A social or business relationship

Example: "A valuable financial affiliation"

A relation resulting from interaction or dependence

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

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

(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