ally vs associate

ally

noun
  • A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a friend. 

  • Something regarded as connected with or related to another thing by similarity in features or nature. 

  • A person who, or organization which, supports a demographic group subject to discrimination and/or misrepresentation but is not a member of the group; specifically (LGBT), a person who is not a member of the LGBT+ community but is supportive of it. 

  • A person, group, state, etc., which is associated or united by treaty with another for a common (especially military or political) purpose; a confederate. 

  • An organism which is related to another organism through common evolutionary origin; specifically, a species which is closely related to another species, usually within the same family. 

  • A person, group, concept, etc., which is associated with another as a helper; an auxiliary; a supporter. 

verb
  • To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty. 

  • Chiefly followed by with: to enter into an alliance or unite for a common aim. 

  • To join or unite (oneself or itself) against, with, etc., someone or something else. 

  • Chiefly followed by to or with: to connect or form a relation to (someone or something) by similarity in features or nature. 

associate

noun
  • A person united with another or others in an act, enterprise, or business; a partner. 

  • A companion; a comrade. 

  • One that habitually accompanies or is associated with another; an attendant circumstance. 

  • One of a pair of elements of an integral domain (or a ring) such that the two elements are divisible by each other (or, equivalently, such that each one can be expressed as the product of the other with a unit). 

  • Somebody with whom one works, coworker, colleague. 

  • A member of an institution or society who is granted only partial status or privileges. 

verb
  • To connect or join together; combine. 

  • To join as a partner, ally, or friend. 

  • To endorse. 

  • To join in or form a league, union, or association. 

  • To spend time socially; keep company. 

  • To be associative. 

  • To connect evidentially, or in the mind or imagination. 

adj
  • Joined with another or others and having lower status. 

  • Having partial status or privileges. 

  • Following or accompanying; concomitant. 

How often have the words ally and associate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )