Associate means to connect things in your mind, or to spend time with someone regularly.

When you associate two ideas, you link them together based on experience or pattern. You might associate the smell of cinnamon with winter holidays, or associate dark clouds with rain. Your brain makes these connections automatically: hear a certain song, and suddenly you remember exactly where you were when you first heard it. Scientists associate smoking with lung disease because research shows a clear connection between the two.

The word also describes spending time with people. If you associate with the kids who love reading, you hang out with them at the library. Teachers sometimes warn students about the company they keep, noting that people who associate with troublemakers often get into trouble themselves. Your associates are the people you regularly spend time with, whether friends, colleagues, or classmates.

In business, an associate is often someone in a junior position, like a sales associate at a store. These people work alongside more experienced professionals, learning and contributing as part of a team.

The opposite, dissociate, means to separate or disconnect things that were previously linked.