union

un·ion (y

a. The act of uniting or the state of being united.

b. A combination so formed, especially an alliance or confederation of people, parties, or political entities for mutual interest or benefit.

2. Mathematics A set, every member of which is an element of one or another of two or more given sets.

3. Agreement or harmony resulting from the uniting of individuals; concord.

a. The state of matrimony; marriage: "The element that was to make possible such a union was trust in each other's love" Kate Chopin.

b. Sexual intercourse.

a. A combination of parishes for joint administration of relief for the poor in Great Britain.

b. A workhouse maintained by such a union.

6. A labor union.

7. A coupling device for connecting parts, such as pipes or rods.

8. A device on a flag or ensign, occupying the upper inner corner or the entire field, that signifies the union of two or more sovereignties.

9. often Union

a. An organization at a college or university that provides facilities for recreation; a student union.

b. A building housing such facilities.

10. Union The United States of America regarded as a national unit, especially during the Civil War.

adj.

1. Union Of, relating to, or loyal to the United States of America during the Civil War: a Union soldier.

2. Of or relating to a labor union or labor union organizing: the union movement; union negotiations.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin ni, nin-, from Latin nus, one; see oi-no- in Indo-European roots.]

union

Noun

1. the act of merging two or more things to become one, or the state of being merged in such a way

2. short for trade union

3. an association of individuals or groups for a common purpose: the Scripture Union

a. an association or society: the Students' union

b. the buildings of such an organization

5. marriage or sexual intercourse

6. Maths a set containing all the members of two given sets

7. (in 19th-century England) a workhouse maintained by a number of parishes

Adjective

of a trade union [Latin unus one]

union (y

A set whose members belong to at least one of a group of two or more given sets. The union of the sets {1,2,3} and {3,4,5} is the set {1,2,3,4,5}, and the union of the sets {6,7} and {11,12,13} is the set {6,7,11,12,13}. The symbol for union is . Compare intersection.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	union - an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer; "you have to join the union in order to get a job" labor union, trade union, trades union, brotherhood organization, organisation - a group of people who work together industrial union, vertical union - a labor union that admits all workers in a given industry irrespective of their craft craft union - a labor union whose membership is restricted to workers in a particular craft company union - a union of workers for a single company; a union not affiliated with a larger union labor movement, trade union movement, labor - an organized attempt by workers to improve their status by united action (particularly via labor unions) or the leaders of this movement I.W.W., Industrial Workers of the World, IWW - a former international labor union and radical labor movement in the United States; founded in Chicago in 1905 and dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism; its membership declined after World War I
	2.	Union - the United States (especially the northern states during the American Civil War); "he has visited every state in the Union"; "Lee hoped to detach Maryland from the Union"; "the North's superior resources turned the scale" North U.S.A., United States, United States of America, US, USA, America, the States, U.S. - North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776 free state - any state prohibiting slavery prior to the American Civil War
	3.	union - the act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes; "the casual couplings of adolescents"; "the mating of some species occurs only in the spring" mating, pairing, sexual union, coupling, conjugation sex, sex activity, sexual activity, sexual practice - activities associated with sexual intercourse; "they had sex in the back seat" assortative mating - mating of individuals having more traits in common than likely in random mating disassortative mating - mating of individuals having traits more dissimilar than likely in random mating hybridisation, hybridization, hybridizing, interbreeding, crossbreeding, crossing, cross - (genetics) the act of mixing different species or varieties of animals or plants and thus to produce hybrids inbreeding - the act of mating closely related individuals servicing, service - the act of mating by male animals; "the bull was worth good money in servicing fees"
	4.	union - the state of being joined or united or linked; "there is strength in union" unification state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" coalition, fusion - the state of being combined into one body connectedness, connection, link - the state of being connected; "the connection between church and state is inescapable" colligation, conjugation, conjunction, junction - the state of being joined together 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" marriage - a close and intimate union; "the marriage of music and dance"; "a marriage of ideas" syncretism - the union (or attempted fusion) of different systems of thought or belief (especially in religion or philosophy); "a syncretism of material and immaterial theories" separation - the state of lacking unity
	5.	union - the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce); "a long and happy marriage"; "God bless this union" marriage, matrimony, spousal relationship, wedlock law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order" marital status - the condition of being married or unmarried bigamy - having two spouses at the same time common-law marriage - a marriage relationship created by agreement and cohabitation rather than by ceremony endogamy, inmarriage, intermarriage - marriage within one's own tribe or group as required by custom or law exogamy, intermarriage - marriage to a person belonging to a tribe or group other than your own as required by custom or law marriage of convenience - a marriage for expediency rather than love misalliance - an unsuitable alliance (especially with regard to marriage) monandry - the state of having only one husband at a time monogamousness, monogamy - having only one spouse at a time open marriage - a marriage in which each partner is free to enter into extraneous sexual relationships without guilt or jealousy from the other cuckoldom - the state of a husband whose wife has committed adultery polygamy - having more than one spouse at a time sigeh - a Shiite tradition of temporary marriage permitted in Iran that allows a couple to specify the terms of their relationship; can last from a few minutes to 99 years; "sigeh legally wraps premarital sex in an Islamic cloak"
	6.	union - healing process involving the growing together of the edges of a wound or the growing together of broken bones conglutination healing - the natural process by which the body repairs itself
	7.	union - a political unit formed from previously independent people or organizations; "the Soviet Union" confederacy, confederation, federation - a union of political organizations enosis - the union of Greece and Cyprus (which is the goal of a group of Greek Cypriots) league - an association of states or organizations or individuals for common action customs union - an association of nations to promote free trade within the union and set common tariffs for nations that are not members political entity, political unit - a unit with political responsibilities
	8.	union - a set containing all and only the members of two or more given sets; "let C be the union of the sets A and B" join, sum set - a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used; "a set of books"; "a set of golf clubs"; "a set of teeth" direct sum - a union of two disjoint sets in which every element is the sum of an element from each of the disjoint sets
	9.	union - the occurrence of a uniting of separate parts; "lightning produced an unusual union of the metals" happening, natural event, occurrence, occurrent - an event that happens amphimixis - union of sperm and egg in sexual reproduction fusion, unification, merger - an occurrence that involves the production of a union combining, combine - an occurrence that results in things being united
	10.	union - a device on a national flag emblematic of the union of two or more sovereignties (typically in the upper inner corner) device - an emblematic design (especially in heraldry); "he was recognized by the device on his shield"
	11.	union - the act of making or becoming a single unit; "the union of opposing factions"; "he looked forward to the unification of his family for the holidays" jointure, uniting, unification, conjugation compounding, combining, combination - the act of combining things to form a new whole coalescence, coalescency, conglutination, coalition, concretion - the union of diverse things into one body or form or group; the growing together of parts reunification, reunion - the act of coming together again; "monetary unification precipitated the reunification of the German state in October 1990" tribalisation, tribalization - the act of making tribal; unification on a tribal basis umbrella - having the function of uniting a group of similar things; "the Democratic Party is an umbrella for many liberal groups"; "under the umbrella of capitalism" disunion - the termination or destruction of union
Adj.	1.	Union - being of or having to do with the northern United States and those loyal to the Union during the American Civil War; "Union soldiers"; "Federal forces"; "a Federal infantryman" Federal northern - in or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line; "Northern liberals"; "northern industry"; "northern cities"
	2.	union - of trade unions; "the union movement"; "union negotiations"; "a union-shop clause in the contract" nonunion - not belonging to or not allowing affiliation with a trade union; "nonunion carpenters"; "a nonunion contractor"