associate vs circle

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. 

circle

noun
  • A specific group of persons; especially one who shares a common interest. 

  • An instrument of observation, whose graduated limb consists of an entire circle. When fixed to a wall in an observatory, it is called a mural circle; when mounted with a telescope on an axis and in Y's, in the plane of the meridian, a meridian or transit circle; when involving the principle of reflection, like the sextant, a reflecting circle; and when that of repeating an angle several times continuously along the graduated limb, a repeating circle. 

  • A two-dimensional geometric figure, a disk, consisting of the set of all those points of a plane at a distance less than or equal to a fixed distance (radius) from a given point. 

  • A form of argument in which two or more unproved statements are used to prove each other; inconclusive reasoning. 

  • A line comprising two semicircles of 30 yards radius centred on the wickets joined by straight lines parallel to the pitch used to enforce field restrictions in a one-day match. 

  • A bagginess of the skin below the eyes from lack of sleep. 

  • A series ending where it begins, and repeating itself. 

  • A territorial division or district. 

  • Any thin three-dimensional equivalent of the geometric figures. 

  • Any shape, curve or arrangement of objects that approximates to or resembles the geometric figures. 

  • A two-dimensional geometric figure, a line, consisting of the set of all those points in a plane that are equally distant from a given point (center). 

  • A curve that more or less forms part or all of a circle. 

  • The orbit of an astronomical body. 

  • A ritual circle that is cast three times deosil and closes three times widdershins either in the air with a wand or literally with stones or other items used for worship. 

  • A traffic circle or roundabout. 

verb
  • To travel around along a curved path. 

  • To travel in circles. 

  • To place or mark a circle around. 

  • To surround. 

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