Association vs. Club: What's the Difference?
Edited by Harlon Moss || By Janet White || Updated on September 17, 2023
An association is a formal organization for people with a common interest or goal, often larger and more structured. A club is a smaller, more informal group organized for social, educational, or recreational activities.
Key Differences
An association generally refers to an organized body of individuals who share a common purpose, like a professional or trade organization. It often has a hierarchical structure, with established rules and procedures. A club, by contrast, is generally a smaller, more informal assembly of individuals who gather for social, educational, or recreational purposes. Clubs might have rules, but they're often less formalized.
In terms of governance, an association usually has elected officers, bylaws, and sometimes even staff members. This formal structure supports its aim, whether that's professional development, trade advocacy, or community service. Clubs, however, are generally more lax. They may have a president or leader, but the rules and governance structures are often simple and flexible, suited more for social interactions rather than professional or formal engagements.
Grammar-wise, both words are nouns, but they can also serve as verbs, albeit less commonly for 'association.' For example, one could say, "I will associate with that group," or "Let's club together to buy a gift." In terms of usage, 'association' often appears in legal and formal contexts, while 'club' is more likely to appear in casual conversations.
Associations often have wider scopes and might even have chapters or affiliated bodies in different cities, states, or countries. Their formal nature often attracts larger memberships and they might wield more influence in professional and political spheres. Clubs are typically localized, focused on specific hobbies or interests, and don't possess the same kind of reach or influence that associations often do.
Comparison Chart
Formality
More formal
More informal
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Structure
Hierarchical
Flexible
Scope
Wider (may include chapters)
Localized
Governance
Elected officers, bylaws
Simple rules, less stringent
Context
Legal, professional
Social, recreational
Association and Club Definitions
Association
A relationship or connection between people or things.
The association between diet and health is well-documented.
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Club
A group organized for social or recreational activities.
The chess club meets every Wednesday.
Association
A mental connection between ideas or things.
For many, the association of pumpkins with fall is strong.
Club
A place of social gathering, often with music or dancing.
We went to a dance club on Saturday.
Association
A formal organization with established rules.
The association holds an annual meeting to discuss changes.
Club
A playing card suit resembling a three-leafed clover.
He drew a seven of clubs from the deck.
Association
An organized group for a common purpose.
The American Medical Association advocates for healthcare policy.
Club
A stout heavy stick, usually thicker at one end, suitable for use as a weapon; a cudgel.
Association
The act of associating or being connected with
My parents disapproved of my association with my friends from across town.
Club
An implement used in some games to drive a ball, especially a stick with a protruding head used in golf.
Association
An organized body of people who have an interest, activity, or purpose in common; a society.
Club
Something resembling a club.
Association
A mental connection or relation between thoughts, feelings, ideas, or sensations
My therapist helped me examine my association of food with comfort.
Club
A black figure shaped like a trefoil or clover leaf on certain playing cards.
Association
The act of expressing a link or connection between two things
"The media's association of visa overstayers with illegality is so strong and common as to shape public attitudes towards them" (Junya Morooka).
Club
A playing card with this figure.
Association
A correlation or causal connection
There is a definite association of exercise with improved health.
Club
Clubs (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The suit of cards represented by this figure.
Association
(Chemistry) Any of various processes of combination, such as hydration, solvation, or complex-ion formation, depending on relatively weak chemical bonding.
Club
A group of people organized for a common purpose, especially a group that meets regularly
A garden club.
Association
(Ecology) A large number of organisms in a specific geographic area constituting a community with one or two dominant species.
Club
The building, room, or other facility used for the meetings of an organized group.
Association
(uncountable) The act of associating.
Club
(Sports) An athletic team or organization.
Association
(countable) The state of being associated; a connection to or an affiliation with something.
Club
A nightclub.
Association
(statistics) Any relationship between two measured quantities that renders them statistically dependent (but not necessarily causal or a correlation).
Club
To strike or beat with a club or similar implement.
Association
A group of persons associated for a common purpose; an organization; society.
Club
To use (a firearm) as a club by holding the barrel and hitting with the butt end.
Association
(object-oriented programming) Relationship between classes of objects that allows one object instance to cause another to perform an action on its behalf.
Club
To gather or combine (hair, for example) into a clublike mass.
Association
A benevolent overseas Chinese organization of popular origin for overseas Chinese individuals with the same surname or trade or business.
Club
To contribute (money or resources) to a joint or common purpose.
Association
The act of associating, or state of being associated; union; connection, whether of persons of things.
Self-denial is a kind of holy association with God.
Club
To join or combine for a common purpose; form a club.
Association
Mental connection, or that which is mentally linked or associated with a thing.
Words . . . must owe their powers association.
Why should . . . the holiest words, with all their venerable associations, be profaned?
Club
To go to or frequent nightclubs
Was out all night clubbing.
Association
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.
Club
An association of members joining together for some common purpose, especially sports or recreation.
Association
A formal organization of people or groups of people;
He joined the Modern Language Association
Club
(archaic) The fees associated with belonging to such a club.
Association
The act of consorting with or joining with others;
You cannot be convicted of criminal guilt by association
Club
A heavy object, often a kind of stick, intended for use as a bludgeoning weapon or a plaything.
Association
The state of being connected together as in memory or imagination;
His association of his father with being beaten was too strong to break
Club
An implement to hit the ball in certain ball games, such as golf.
Association
A social or business relationship;
A valuable financial affiliation
He was sorry he had to sever his ties with other members of the team
Many close associations with England
Club
A joint charge of expense, or any person's share of it; a contribution to a common fund.
Association
The process of bringing ideas or events together in memory or imagination;
Conditioning is a form of learning by association
Club
An establishment that provides staged entertainment, often with food and drink, such as a nightclub.
She was sitting in a jazz club, sipping wine and listening to a bass player's solo.
Association
A relation resulting from interaction or dependence;
Flints were found in association with the prehistoric remains of the bear
The host is not always injured by association with a parasite
Club
A black clover shape (♣), one of the four symbols used to mark the suits of playing cards.
Association
(chemistry) any process of combination (especially in solution) that depends on relatively weak chemical bonding
Club
A playing card marked with such a symbol.
I've got only one club in my hand.
Association
(ecology) a group of organisms (plants and animals) that live together in a certain geographical region and constitute a community with a few dominant species
Club
(humorous) Any set of people with a shared characteristic.
You also hate Night Court?
Join the club.
Michael stood you up?
Welcome to the club.
Association
An act of joining or partnering for a common cause.
The association of various charities led to a successful fundraiser.
Club
A club sandwich.
Club
The slice of bread in the middle of a club sandwich.
Club
(transitive) To hit with a club.
He clubbed the poor dog.
Club
(intransitive) To join together to form a group.
Club
To combine into a club-shaped mass.
A medical condition with clubbing of the fingers and toes
Club
(intransitive) To go to nightclubs.
We went clubbing in Ibiza.
When I was younger, I used to go clubbing almost every night.
Club
(intransitive) To pay an equal or proportionate share of a common charge or expense.
Club
(transitive) To raise, or defray, by a proportional assessment.
To club the expense
Club
(nautical) To drift in a current with an anchor out.
Club
(military) To throw, or allow to fall, into confusion.
Club
(transitive) To unite, or contribute, for the accomplishment of a common end.
To club exertions
Club
To turn the breech of (a musket) uppermost, so as to use it as a club.
Club
A heavy staff of wood, usually tapering, and wielded with the hand; a weapon; a cudgel.
But make you ready your stiff bats and clubs;Rome and her rats are at the point of battle.
Club
Any card of the suit of cards having a figure like the trefoil or clover leaf. (pl.) The suit of cards having such figure.
Club
An association of persons for the promotion of some common object, as literature, science, politics, good fellowship, etc.; esp. an association supported by equal assessments or contributions of the members.
They talkedAt wine, in clubs, of art, of politics.
He [Goldsmith] was one of the nine original members of that celebrated fraternity which has sometimes been called the Literary Club, but which has always disclaimed that epithet, and still glories in the simple name of the Club.
Club
A joint charge of expense, or any person's share of it; a contribution to a common fund.
They laid down the club.
We dined at a French house, but paid ten shillings for our part of the club.
Club
To beat with a club.
Club
To throw, or allow to fall, into confusion.
To club a battalion implies a temporary inability in the commanding officer to restore any given body of men to their natural front in line or column.
Club
To unite, or contribute, for the accomplishment of a common end; as, to club exertions.
Club
To raise, or defray, by a proportional assesment; as, to club the expense.
Club
To form a club; to combine for the promotion of some common object; to unite.
Till grosser atoms, tumbling in the streamOf fancy, madly met, and clubbed into a dream.
Club
To pay on equal or proportionate share of a common charge or expense; to pay for something by contribution.
The owl, the raven, and the bat,Clubbed for a feather to his hat.
Club
To drift in a current with an anchor out.
Club
A team of professional baseball players who play and travel together;
Each club played six home games with teams in its own division
Club
A formal association of people with similar interests;
He joined a golf club
They formed a small lunch society
Men from the fraternal order will staff the soup kitchen today
Club
Stout stick that is larger at one end;
He carried a club in self defense
He felt as if he had been hit with a club
Club
A building occupied by a club;
The clubhouse needed a new roof
Club
Golf equipment used by a golfer to hit a golf ball
Club
A playing card in the minor suit of clubs (having one or more black trefoils on it);
He led a small club
Clubs were trumps
Club
A spot that is open late at night and that provides entertainment (as singers or dancers) as well as dancing and food and drink;
Don't expect a good meal at a cabaret
The gossip columnist got his information by visiting nightclubs every night
He played the drums at a jazz club
Club
Unite with a common purpose;
The two men clubbed together
Club
Gather and spend time together;
They always club together
Club
Strike with a club or a bludgeon
Club
An association of people with a common interest.
She joined a book club to read more.
Club
A blunt weapon used for striking.
The police officer carried a club.
FAQs
Is a club usually smaller than an association?
Typically, yes. Clubs are usually smaller and more localized.
What part of speech is 'club'?
Club is primarily a noun but can also be a verb.
Can an association be for social purposes?
While possible, associations are usually more professionally or goal-oriented.
Does an association have elected officers?
Often yes, including bylaws and sometimes staff.
Can 'association' be used as a verb?
Rarely, but it can mean the act of associating or joining.
Is an association more formal than a club?
Generally, yes. Associations often have formal structures.
Is 'club' a casual term?
It is generally used in more informal settings.
Can a club be for professional development?
Yes, but clubs are generally less formal and more social.
Does a club have a hierarchy?
Generally, clubs have simpler governance structures.
What part of speech is 'association'?
Association is primarily a noun.
Is 'association' usually used in legal contexts?
It frequently appears in legal and formal situations.
Can a club become an association?
Yes, if it formalizes its structure and expands its scope.
Do clubs have memberships?
Yes, but often fewer members due to their localized focus.
Can 'club' be used as a verb?
Yes, as in "to club together" for a common cause.
Do associations usually have larger memberships?
Typically, yes, due to their formal nature and wider scope.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Harlon MossHarlon is a seasoned quality moderator and accomplished content writer for Difference Wiki. An alumnus of the prestigious University of California, he earned his degree in Computer Science. Leveraging his academic background, Harlon brings a meticulous and informed perspective to his work, ensuring content accuracy and excellence.
