association

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /əˌsəʊ.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, US /əˌsoʊ.siˈeɪ.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French association or directly borrowed from Medieval Latin associātiō (“association”) (accusative associātiōnem),^[2][3][4] the noun of action of associāre (“to join with, unite”),^[4][2] from ad- (“to”) and sociāre (“to unite with”), from socius (“companion, ally”),^[4] from Proto-Indo-European *sekw- (“to follow”).^[4] It is the noun of associate.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of combining for a common purpose: 1535^[5] or the 1530s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

A document setting out the common purpose of a group, signed by its members, is from 1586.^[5] An organized body of people with a common purpose is from the 1650s (before 1659),^[4][5] and fellowship, companionship, from 1660.^[5] The mental connection between ideas is from the 1680s, 1690 in the OED,^[4][5] and a quality or thing called to mind by something else from 1810.^[4]

Timeline

• 1535 – combining for a common purpose.^[5]
• 1586 – a signed declaration of purpose.^[5]
• 1650s – an organized society.^[4]
• 1660 – fellowship.^[5]
• 1680s – a mental connection.^[4]
• 1810 – something called to mind.^[4]
• 1895 – in chemistry, the aggregation of molecules.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An organized group of people with a shared interest or purpose; a society.
2. A connection or link between people or things.
3. A mental connection between ideas or feelings; a feeling or memory brought to mind by something.
4. The act of associating, or the state of being associated.

Word family

• associational
• associationism
• interassociation
• nonassociation
• reassociation
• subassociation
• association football
• free association

Related words

• associate
• social
• society
• sociable
• consociation
• sequel

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press