For a weak entity set to be meaningful, it must be associated with another entity set, called the

In the context of database design, particularly when discussing entity-relationship (ER) models, a weak entity set must be associated with another entity set known as the "owner entity set" or "strong entity set."

A weak entity set is one that cannot be uniquely identified by its own attributes alone; it relies on a strong entity set to ensure its uniqueness.

1. Owner Entity Set: This is the strong entity that has a primary key and provides identifiers for the weak entity.

2. Partial Key: The weak entity has a partial key that, when combined with the primary key of the owning entity, forms a composite key to uniquely identify the weak entity instances.

This relationship is vital as it illustrates how weak entities are dependent on strong entities for their existence within the database.