noun (n)

• a formal organization of people or groups of people(noun.group)

  Example:
  He joined the Modern Language Association.
  

  source: wordnet30
• the act of consorting with or joining with others(noun.act)

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

  source: wordnet30
• the state of being connected together as in memory or imagination(noun.state)

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

  Antonym:
  disassociation
  

  source: wordnet30
• the process of bringing ideas or events together in memory or imagination(noun.cognition)

  Example:
  Conditioning is a form of learning by association.
  

  Synonym:
  connection, connexion
  

  source: wordnet30
• a social or business relationship(noun.state)

  Example:
  Many close associations with England.
  

  Synonym:
  affiliation, tie, tie-up
  

  source: wordnet30
• a relation resulting from interaction or dependence(noun.linkdef)

  Example:
  Flints were found in association with the prehistoric remains of the bear.
  The host is not always injured by association with a parasite.
  

  source: wordnet30
• (chemistry) any process of combination (especially in solution) that depends on relatively weak chemical bonding(noun.process)

  source: wordnet30
• (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(noun.group)

  source: wordnet30
• The act of associating, or state of being associated; union; connection, whether of persons of things.(noun)

  source: webster1913