Definition of "nonassociative" in English

adjective

1. Not associative.

2. (algebra, of an algebraic structure) Whose multiplication operation is not assumed to be associative for all elements.

   • 1996, E. G. Goodaire, E. Jespers, C. Polcino Milies, Alternative Loop Rings, Elsevier, page 5, Two important functions in nonassociative ring theory are the commutator and associator which, for elements a, b, c in a ring are defined respectively by [a, b] = ab − ba and [a, b, c] = a(bc) − (ab)c.
   • 2012, W. B. Vasantha Kandasamy, Florentin Smarandache, Non Associative Algebraic Structures Using Finite Complex Numbers, Zip Publishing, page 5, Authors in this book for the first time have constructed nonassociative structures like groupoids, quasi loops, non associative semirings and rings using finite complex modulo integers.