Etymologically
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association

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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