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UNION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of making or becoming a single unit
Example:
he looked forward to the unification of his family for the holidays
Synonyms:
conjugation; jointure; unification; union; uniting
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
combination; combining; compounding (the act of combining things to form a new whole)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "union"):
coalescence; coalescency; coalition; concretion; conglutination (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)
tribalisation; tribalization (the act of making tribal; unification on a tribal basis)
umbrella (having the function of uniting a group of similar things)
Antonym:
disunion (the termination or destruction of union)
Derivation:
unite (become one)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes
Example:
the mating of some species occurs only in the spring
Synonyms:
conjugation; coupling; mating; pairing; sexual union; union
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice (activities associated with sexual intercourse)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "union"):
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)
cross; crossbreeding; crossing; hybridisation; hybridization; hybridizing; interbreeding ((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)
service; servicing (the act of mating by male animals)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A device on a national flag emblematic of the union of two or more sovereignties (typically in the upper inner corner)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
device (an emblematic design (especially in heraldry))
Sense 4
Meaning:
The occurrence of a uniting of separate parts
Example:
lightning produced an unusual union of the metals
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "union"):
combine; combining (an occurrence that results in things being united)
fusion; merger; unification (an occurrence that involves the production of a union)
amphimixis (union of sperm and egg in sexual reproduction)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A set containing all and only the members of two or more given sets
Example:
let C be the union of the sets A and B
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
set (a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "union"):
direct sum (a union of two disjoint sets in which every element is the sum of an element from each of the disjoint sets)
Sense 6
Meaning:
An organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer
Example:
you have to join the union in order to get a job
Synonyms:
brotherhood; labor union; trade union; trades union; union
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "union"):
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)
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)
Holonyms ("union" is a part of...):
labor; labor movement; trade union movement (an organized attempt by workers to improve their status by united action (particularly via labor unions) or the leaders of this movement)
Derivation:
unionize (form or join a union)
unionize (recruit for a union or organize into a union)
Sense 7
Meaning:
A political unit formed from previously independent people or organizations
Example:
the Soviet Union
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
political entity; political unit (a unit with political responsibilities)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "union"):
customs union (an association of nations to promote free trade within the union and set common tariffs for nations that are not members)
league (an association of states or organizations or individuals for common action)
enosis (the union of Greece and Cyprus (which is the goal of a group of Greek Cypriots))
confederacy; confederation; federation (a union of political organizations)
Sense 8
Meaning:
The United States (especially the northern states during the American Civil War)
Example:
the North's superior resources turned the scale
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Instance hypernyms:
America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (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)
Meronyms (parts of "Union"):
free state (any state prohibiting slavery prior to the American Civil War)
Attribute:
northern (in or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line)
Domain region:
America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (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)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Healing process involving the growing together of the edges of a wound or the growing together of broken bones
Synonyms:
conglutination; union
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
healing (the natural process by which the body repairs itself)
Sense 10
Meaning:
The state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
Example:
God bless this union
Synonyms:
marriage; matrimony; spousal relationship; union; wedlock
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
marital status (the condition of being married or unmarried)
Domain category:
jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "union"):
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)
polygamy (the condition or practice of having more than one spouse at a time)
cuckoldom (the state of a husband whose wife has committed adultery)
open marriage (a marriage in which each partner is free to enter into extraneous sexual relationships without guilt or jealousy from the other)
monogamousness; monogamy (the practice or state of having only one spouse at a time)
monandry (the state of having only one husband at a time)
misalliance (an unsuitable alliance (especially with regard to marriage))
marriage of convenience (a marriage for expediency rather than love)
exogamy; intermarriage (marriage to a person belonging to a tribe or group other than your own as required by custom or law)
endogamy; inmarriage; intermarriage (marriage within one's own tribe or group as required by custom or law)
common-law marriage (a marriage relationship created by agreement and cohabitation rather than by ceremony)
bigamy (the state of having two spouses at the same time)
Sense 11
Meaning:
The state of being joined or united or linked
Example:
there is strength in union
Synonyms:
unification; union
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("union" is a kind of...):
state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "union"):
coalition; fusion (the state of being combined into one body)
connectedness; connection; link (the state of being connected)
colligation; conjugation; conjunction; junction (the state of being joined together)
association (the state of being connected together as in memory or imagination)
marriage (a close and intimate union)
syncretism (the union (or attempted fusion) of different systems of thought or belief (especially in religion or philosophy))
Antonym:
separation (the state of lacking unity)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Being of or having to do with the northern United States and those loyal to the Union during the American Civil War
Example:
a Federal infantryman
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
northern (in or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of trade unions
Example:
a union-shop clause in the contract
Classified under:
Similar:
closed (requiring union membership)
organised; organized; unionised; unionized (being a member of or formed into a labor union)
Antonym:
nonunion (not belonging to or not allowing affiliation with a trade union)
Context examples:
An union of a different tendency, and precluding the possibility of the other, was soon to be formed in their family.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Another pause, and then, not a quarter of a mile in front of me, I beheld the Union Jack flutter in the air above a wood.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Their union, she believed, could not divide her more from other men, than their final separation.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
The 31 paired peripheral nerves formed by the union of the dorsal and ventral spinal roots from each spinal cord segment.
(Murine Spinal Nerves, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
The International Union Against Cancer (UICC) is the only global cancer organisation with members and activities covering all aspects of cancer control.
(International Union Against Cancer, NCI Thesaurus)
A material containing drug intended to be inserted securely and deeply in a living site for growth, slow release, or formation of an organic union.
(Implant Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)
Makemake is one of five dwarf planets recognized by the International Astronomical Union.
(Hubble Discovers Moon Orbiting the Dwarf Planet Makemake, NASA)
A substance formed by chemical union of two or more elements or ingredients in definite proportion by weight.
(Compound, NCI Thesaurus)
The supper was laid in a large room, with Union Jacks and mottoes hung thickly upon the walls.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
On the other hand, your friends may be supportive of your union, so if you are in love and happy together, you might now be ready to become engaged or to marry.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
