Association

·noun Mental connection, or that which is mentally linked or associated with a thing.

II. Association ·noun The act of associating, or state of being associated; union; connection, whether of persons of things.

III. Association ·noun Union of persons in a company or society for some particular purpose; as, the American Association for the Advancement of Science; a benevolent association. Specifically, as among the Congregationalists, a society, consisting of a number of ministers, generally the pastors of neighboring churches, united for promoting the interests of religion and the harmony of the churches.