associatively

/əˈsoʊʃiˌeɪtɪvli/
adverb
  1. In a way that involves connecting ideas, memories, or things together in the mind.
    • She associatively linked the smell of cinnamon with her grandmother's kitchen.
    • He associatively remembered the song when he saw the old photograph.
    • The brain works associatively, connecting new information to what we already know.
  2. In mathematics or computing, in a way that follows the associative property (where grouping does not change the result).
    • Addition is associatively true: (2 + 3) + 4 equals 2 + (3 + 4).
    • In this algebra system, the operation is not associatively defined, so parentheses are required.
    • The programmer designed the function to work associatively so that the order of operations didn't matter.
What does "associatively" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean