noun: union; plural noun: unions; noun: the Union

1. the action of joining together or the fact of being joined together, especially in a political context.“he was opposed to closer political or economic union with Europe”
   Similar: unification uniting joining merging merger fusion fusing

• HISTORICAL the uniting of the English and Scottish crowns in 1603, of the English and Scottish parliaments in 1707, or of the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.
  singular proper noun: Union
• a state of harmony or agreement.
  “they live in perfect union”
  Similar: unity accord unison unanimity harmony concord agreement concurrence undividedness
• a marriage.
  “their union had not been blessed with children”
  Similar: marriage wedding partnership pairing alliance match
  
  2. a society or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose. “members of the Students’ Union”
  Similar: association alliance league guild coalition consortium combine syndicate confederation federation confederacy partnership fraternity brotherhood sorority society club group organization trade union
• a trade union. “the National Farmers’ Union”
• HISTORICAL a number of parishes consolidated for the purposes of administering the Poor Laws.
• BRITISH an association of independent Churches, especially Congregational or Baptist, for purposes of cooperation.
  
  3. a political unit consisting of a number of states or provinces with the same central government.
• the United States, especially from its founding by the original thirteen states in 1787–90 to the secession of the Confederate states in 1860–1.
• “California is the fastest growing state in the Union when it comes to urban encroachment”
  The northern states of the United States which opposed the seceding Confederate states in the American Civil War.
  singular proper noun: Federal Union; singular proper noun: the Federal Union
• South Africa, especially before it became a republic in 1961.

BINARY OPPOSITION

Binary opposition – a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning.

Binary opposition originated in Saussurean structuralist theory in Linquistics (scientific study of language) According to Ferdinand de Saussure, binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. Using binary opposites can often be very helpful in generating ideas for a photographic project as it provides a framework – a set of boundaries to work within.