free associationn.
/ˌfriː əˌsəʊsɪˈeɪʃn/, /ˌfriː əˌsəʊʃɪˈeɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌfri əˌsoʊsiˈeɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌfri əˌsoʊʃiˈeɪʃ(ə)n/ 1. A voluntary association of free individuals; the freedom to form such an association or to socialize with others, esp. regarded as a right. Also: a confederation of states, etc., which retain their sovereignty.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > types of association, society, or organization > [noun] > other types of association, society, or organization
invisible college1647
rota1660
working party1744
free association1761
working committee1821
Ethical Society1822
bar association1824
league1846
congress1870
tiger1874
cult1875
Daughters of the American Revolution1890
community group1892
housing association1898
working party1902
development agency1910
affinity group1915
propaganda machine1916
funding body1922
collective1925
Ku-Klux1930
network1946
NGO1946
production brigade1950
umbrella organization1950
plantation1956
think-tank1958
think group1961
team1990
1761 tr. J. J. Rousseau Disc. upon Origin & Found. Inequality i. 104 He united with them in..some kind of free Association [Fr. quelque sorte d'association libre] which obliged none of its Members.
1800 P. Lattin Observ. on Dr. Duigenan's Representation of Polit. State of Ireland 110 Surely the influence of the Pope, and the incompatibility of the Roman Catholic religion might be more reasonably dreaded in this vast and free association [sc. Germany] than among us.
1849 C. C. Felton tr. A. Guyot Earth & Man xii. 300 In religion, as in politics, democracy; the principle of free association pervading every part of public and private life.
1852 Disc. in Behalf of Amer. Home Missionary Soc. 19 The State everywhere..recognizes its [sc. the Church's]..right of free association for religious purposes.
1909 Times 27 Nov. 11/6 That is the true ideal of Imperial unity for such an Empire as ours—a free association of self-governing States.
1954 N. Mansergh Surv. Brit. Commonw. Affairs i. i. 13 Afrikaner nationalists welcomed the assertion of equality on the basis of free association, which was soon to be interpreted as implying freedom to dissociate.
1986 Sunday Express Mag. 1 June 18/3 They have individual cells, a pool table and what is known as free association.
1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) iv. 109 The right of free association has been curtailed by laws outlawing secondary picketing and sympathetic action.
2. Psychology. The mental process of making associations which the reason does not order, repress, or control; an association of this type. Hence: a technique used in psychology that seeks to analyse such associations, in order to gain insight into subconscious processes.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > psychology of ideas > association of ideas > [noun] > uncontrolled association
free association1889
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > psychology of ideas > association of ideas > [adjective] > relating to free association
free association1889
free-associative1926
1889 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 2 647 The time of a free association is shorter than of a limited association.
1899 W. James Talks to Teachers 219 Strong feeling about one's self tends to arrest the free association of one's objective ideas and motor processes.
1925 J. T. Maccurdy Psychol. of Emotion v. xxv. 270 The nearer the free associations are to the original unconscious theme, the greater is the likelihood of their being presented in unpleasant forms.
1937 ‘C. Caudwell’ Illusion & Reality vi. 119 In free association the images are controlled by the iron hand of the unconscious instincts—and it is therefore no more free than the ‘thinking’ of the ant.
1953 J. Strachey tr. S. Freud Interpr. Dreams in Compl. Wks. V. vi. 353 As a rule the technique of interpreting according to the dreamer's free associations [Ger. den freien Einfällen des Träumers] leaves us in the lurch when we come to the symbolic elements in the dream-content.
1964 J. Gould & W. L. Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 557/1 Freud..induced his patients to disclose their thoughts without censorship, allowing ideas to enter their minds in undirected free association.
2002 S. Packer Dreams in Myth, Med. & Movies vi. 74 The dream and the free associations that dream inspired during the waking state could free an individual from the bonds of the past.
Derivatives
ˈfree-asˌsociˈational adj. relating to or characteristic of free association (sense 2).
ΚΠ
1925 J. T. MacCurdy Psychol. of Emotion vii. xxxiii. 346 Such momentary depressions often occur in perplexity states, where there is a dominance of free associational thinking.
1937 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 42 861 The Washington School of Psychiatry looks towards the evolution of techniques for personality study that will utilize free-associational processes.
1960 Guardian 9 Sept. 7/3 A solid chunk of free-associational near-verse.
2001 Denver Westword (Nexis) 13 Sept. Mather has put together a free-associational melange in which a wide variety of styles are seen simultaneously.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1761