affiliation

noun

af·​fil·​i·​a·​tion ə-ˌfi-lē-ˈā-shən 

plural affiliations

: the state or relation of being closely associated or affiliated with a particular person, group, party, company, etc.

The radio station has maintained a longtime affiliation with the concert hall and often has featured performers as guests on the air.

A former Democrat, Joseph McCarthy had switched his affiliation and was elected in the Republican landslide of 1946 …

—Ted Widmer

… hundreds of businessmen owe their success to an affiliation with organized crime.

—William Bastone

Synonyms of affiliation

• association
• partnership
• relationship
• collaboration
• cooperation
• connection

Examples of affiliation in a Sentence

the Little League team, despite its name, the Northern Dynamites, has no affiliation with the Northern Dynamite Company

Recent Examples on the Web

Major League Baseball team caps themselves–for the New York Yankees and LA Dodgers, primarily–often signal affiliation with a particular metropolitan sensibility, rather than the team, and thus have broad application. — Joan Kennedy, Vogue, 30 Oct. 2026

For every candidate mentioned in the articles, AI was used to extract the names, party affiliation and offices in contention. — Huo Jingnan, NPR, 30 Oct. 2026

In that region, Andrews performed 19 points better than expected based on voters’ party affiliations, compared with just four points elsewhere in the state. — Charlotte Observer, 29 Oct. 2026

In our survey of video games favored by people of different political affiliations, Call of Duty, Fortnite and Sims appeared on all three lists. — Karrin Vasby Anderson, The Conversation, 29 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for affiliation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation