\As*so`ci*a"tion\ (?; 277), n. [Cf. F. association,
LL. associatio, fr. L. associare.]
1. The act of associating, or state of being associated;
   union; connection, whether of persons of things. ``Some .
   . . bond of association.'' --Hooker.
         Self-denial is a kind of holy association with God.
                                               --Boyle.
2. Mental connection, or that which is mentally linked or
   associated with a thing.
         Words . . . must owe their powers association.
                                               --Johnson.
         Why should . . . the holiest words, with all their
         venerable associations, be profaned?  --Coleridge.
3. 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.
{Association of ideas} (Physiol.), the combination or
   connection of states of mind or their objects with one
   another, as the result of which one is said to be revived
   or represented by means of the other. The relations
   according to which they are thus connected or revived are
   called the law of association. Prominent among them are
   reckoned the relations of time and place, and of cause and
   effect. --Porter.

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An organization for promoting the spiritual, intellectual,
social, and physical welfare of young men, founded, June 6,
1844, by George Williams (knighted therefor by Queen
Victoria) in London. In 1851 it extended to the United States
and Canada, and in 1855 representatives of similar
organizations throughout Europe and America formed an
international body. The movement has successfully expanded
not only among young men in general, but also specifically
among railroad men, in the army and navy, with provision for
Indians and negroes, and a full duplication of all the
various lines of oepration in the boys' departments.

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An organization for promoting the spiritual, intellectual,
social, and economic welfare of young women, originating in
1855 with Lady Kinnaird's home for young women, and Miss Emma
Robert's prayer union for young women,in England, which were
combined in the year 1884 as a national association. Now
nearly all the civilized countries, and esp. the United
States, have local, national, and international
organizations.