associate

verb

• connect (someone or something) with something else in one’s mind:I associated wealth with freedom
• connect (something) with something else because they occur together or one produces the other:the environmental problems associated with nuclear waste
• (be associated with) be involved with: she has been associated with the project from the first
• (associate oneself with) allow oneself to be connected with or seen to be supportive of:I cannot associate myself with some of the language used
• [no object] meet or have dealings with someone regarded with disapproval:he began to associate with the Mafia

noun

• 1a partner or companion in business or at work:a close associate of the Minister

• 2a person with limited or subordinate membership of an organization: an Associate of the Linnaean Society

• 3chiefly Psychology a concept connected with another: the patient was asked to commit to memory a list of five paired associates

adjective

• connected with an organization or business:an associate company
• having shared function or membership but with a lesser status:the associate director of the academy