allocate
v.to decide that a specific amount of money, time, or space should be used for a particular purpose. You use this when you are giving out resources to different people or tasks.
v.to distribute resources or duties for a specific purpose or to particular recipients. Transitive; frequently used in administrative, financial, or technical contexts to describe the formal assignment of assets.
“The manager needs to allocate more time to this project.”
“The local government decided to allocate a larger portion of the budget to improving public parks this year.”
“In high-performance computing, the operating system must efficiently allocate memory to various processes to prevent system crashes and ensure smooth multitasking.”
The verb is transitive and requires a direct object. It often takes the preposition 'to' for the recipient or 'for' for the purpose.
Allocate is transitive and must have a direct object (the resource being given) before the prepositional phrase.
Usage allocate resource · allocate time
“Globally, ESG investing has grown significantly, with investors increasingly considering firms' sustainability performance when allocating capital.”
“Madrid allocates Ceuta an ordinary reception capacity of 29 places, but shelters are now holding about 1,350 children, RTVE reported.”
From Latin allocātus, perfect passive participle of Latin allocō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to”) + locō. Doublet of allow.
From Middle English allocat(e) (“allocated”), originally used as the past participle of allocate, from Latin allocātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
From Middle English allocate (the common first word of writs authorizing payment), from Medieval Latin allocātum, substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of allocātus, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Alternatively, from allocāte, the second-person plural imperative of allocō, compare English liberate (“a warrant for the payment of a pension, allowance, debt, etc.”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.