associative

adjective3

1. •
   Pertaining to, resulting from, or characterised by association; capable of associating; tending to associate or unite.
2. •
   Addressable by a key more complex than an integer index.

   • AWK's associative arrays may be indexed by strings.
   • Associative memories were once given considerable attention.
3. •
   Such that, for any operands a,b and c, (a*b)*c=a*(b*c); (of a ring, etc.) whose multiplication operation is associative.

   • It is now generally accepted that the representation theory of associative algebras traces its origin to Hamilton's description of the complex numbers by pairs of real numbers. — 2006