yhdistys

yhdistää (“to unite”) +‎ -ys

yhdistys

1. (law) association (organized group of persons associated for a common purpose)

• Yhdistys is principally a legal term and an yhdistys is a legal person represented by its hallitus (“board”). Yhdistyslaki (“Associations act”) states that an association may be founded for the common realisation of a non-profit purpose. The purpose may not be contrary to law or proper behaviour.
• For many purposes järjestö (“organization”) and yhdistys are used synonymously, but järjestö is a slightly wider concept covering also organizations which are not associations in legal sense. A prime example is rikollisjärjestö (“criminal organization”). Also international associations or similar organizations such as the UN, OECD, Red Cross or UEFA are often called järjestö.
• There is a number of terms for different types of associations, see "Hyponyms" -section below for partial listing. Some of them, notably kerho, klubi and seura may also be used of organizations which are only groups of people and not associations from legal perspective.