associate — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Joined with another or others and having lower status.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   The associate editor is someone who has some experience in editing but not sufficient experience to qualify for a senior post.

2. Having partial status or privileges.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   He is an associate member of the club.

3. Following or accompanying; concomitant.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

4. Connected by habit or sympathy.

   Usage

   • Dated
   • not-comparable

   Examples

   associate motions

   More examples (1)

   These associate ideas are gradually formed into habits of acting together, by frequent repetition, while they are yet separately obedient to the will; as is evident from the difficulty we experience in gaining so exact an idea of the front of St. Paul's church, as to be able to delineate it with accuracy, or in recollecting a poem of a few pages.

Noun

1. A person united with another or others in an act, enterprise, or business; a partner or employee.

   Examples

   Allow me to introduce my business associates, Alice and Bob, who are senior VPs for ops and strategy, respectively.

   Associates must wash hands before returning to work

   More examples (1)

   The frowning lookes of fiery Tamburlaine, That with his terrour and imperious eies, Commands the hearts of his aſſociates, […]

2. Somebody with whom one works, coworker, colleague.

3. A companion; a comrade.

4. One that habitually accompanies or is associated with another; an attendant circumstance.

5. A member of an institution or society who is granted only partial status or privileges.

6. One of a pair of elements of an integral domain (or a ring) such that the two elements are divisible by each other (or, equivalently, such that each one can be expressed as the product of the other with a unit).

7. A casual friend, acquaintance

Verb

1. To join in or form a league, union, or association.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

2. To spend time socially; keep company.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Synonyms

   surround

   Examples

   She associates with her coworkers on weekends.

   Before the race he associated only with other skiers.

   More examples (1)

   As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,[…]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get.[…]I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.

3. To join as a partner, ally, or friend.

   Usage

   • Transitive
   • with with

   Examples

   He associated his name with many environmental causes.

4. To connect or join together; combine.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   attachjoinput togetherunite

   Examples

   particles of gold associated with other substances

5. To connect evidentially, or in the mind or imagination.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   I always somehow associate Chatterton with autumn.

   He succeeded in associating his name inseparably with some names which will last as long as our language.

   More examples (3)

   A branch of rail transport that seems to been rather neglected by historians is that concerned with cliff railways, of which a fair number exist in Great Britain. This is probably because these lines are overshadowed by the more spectacular funicular railways in Switzerland and other mountainous regions; perhaps, too, because of the general habit of referring to them as "cliff lifts," which tends to associate them with the vertical indoor type.

   The economics of rebuilding all the stations covered by the electrification would be prohibitive, but to help bring home to the Glasgow public that their North Clyde suburban service has been transformed, not merely re-equipped with new trains, stations have at least been associated psychologically with the rolling stock by a common colour scheme.

   Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident.

6. To endorse.

   Usage

   • Reflexive
   • in deliberative bodies

   Examples

   She refused to associate herself with the petition.

   Mr. President, I rise to associate myself with the remarks of my senior Senator from Louisiana who has led this fight successfully for many years

7. To be associative.

8. To accompany; to be in the company of.

   Usage

   • Obsolete
   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   travel

   Examples

   Friends should associate friends in grief and woe

Adjective

1. having partial rights and privileges or subordinate status

   Examples

   an associate member

   an associate professor

Noun

1. a person who joins with others in some activity or endeavor

   Broader terms

   peerequalmatchcompeer

   Examples

   he had to consult his associate before continuing

2. a friend who is frequently in the company of another

   Synonyms

   companioncomradefellowfamiliar

   Broader terms

   friend

   Examples

   drinking companions

   comrades in arms

3. a person with subordinate membership in a society, institution, or commercial enterprise

   Broader terms

   subordinatesubsidiaryunderlingfoot soldier

   Examples

   associates in the law firm bill at a lower rate than do partners

4. any event that usually accompanies or is closely connected with another

   Broader terms

   accompanimentconcomitantattendantco-occurrence

   Examples

   first was the lightning and then its thunderous associate

5. a degree granted by a two-year college on successful completion of the undergraduates course of studies

   Synonyms

   associate degree

   Broader terms

   academic degreedegree

Verb

1. make a logical or causal connection

   Synonyms

   tie inrelatelinkcolligatelink upconnect

   Antonyms

   dissociate

   Broader terms

   thinkcogitatecerebrate

   Examples

   I cannot connect these two pieces of evidence in my mind

   colligate these facts

   More examples (1)

   I cannot relate these events at all

2. keep company with; hang out with

   Synonyms

   consortaffiliateassort

   Broader terms

   interact

   Examples

   He associates with strange people

   She affiliates with her colleagues

3. bring or come into association or action

   Synonyms

   consociate

   Broader terms

   uniteunify

   Examples

   The churches consociated to fight their dissolution