[as.so.cia.tive] adj (1812) 1: of or relating to association esp. of ideas or images
2: dependent on or acquired by association or learning
3: of, having, or being the property of producing the same result no matter which pair of elements next to each other in a mathematical expression is used to perform a given operation first if the elements in the expression are listed in a fixed order "addition is ~ since (a + b) + c a + (b + c)" -- as.so.cia.tive.ly adv -- as.so.cia.tiv.i.ty n