"affiliation" in the noun sense
1. affiliation, association, tie, tie-up
a social or business relationship
"a valuable financial affiliation"
"he was sorry he had to sever his ties with other members of the team"
"many close associations with England"
2. affiliation
the act of becoming formally connected or joined
"welcomed the affiliation of the research center with the university"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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