association
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a group of people who have joined together for a particular purpose or interest.
a formal organisation of people or groups with a common interest or goal.
Simple“The local residents formed an association to protect the park from builders.”
In context“The professional association provides its members with legal advice and keeps them updated on changes to industry regulations.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
a connection or relationship between people, things, or ideas.
the state of being connected or the act of linking one thing with another in the mind.
Simple“The company denied any association with the political scandal.”
In context“Psychologists often use word games to explore the subconscious associations patients make between certain colours and childhood memories.”
SynonymsAntonymsseparationdisconnection - 03 C1 Advanced
a relationship between two sets of data where they seem to change together.
a relationship between two measured quantities that renders them statistically dependent, though not necessarily implying a causal link.
Simple“The study found a strong association between a healthy diet and a long life.”
In context“Researchers noted a significant statistical association between the two variables, although they cautioned that this did not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'between'.
SynonymsAntonyms
Usage demonstrate association · direct association · examine association
“Photograph: Thames Valley police/PA Tom Wheatley, the president of the Prison Governors’ Association, said further changes to the scheme could lead to prisoners being wrongly released.”
“For the same reason, the 54-year-old had stopped inviting friends over to her house and had been living in fear of a complaint from her housing association.”
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *sokʷéh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ṓy Proto-Indo-European *sokʷh₂ṓy Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Indo-European *sokʷyós Proto-Italic *sokjos Latin sokios Latin socius Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin sociō Latin associō Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin associātiōbor. English association From Latin associātiō, from associō (perhaps via French association). Morphologically associate + -ion. The Philippine sense is a calque of Spanish gremio.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.