allowance
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.an amount of money that is given to someone regularly for a specific purpose.
n.a sum of money granted periodically for a particular purpose, such as a child's pocket money or a business stipend.
Simple“The parents gave their daughter a small weekly allowance for doing chores.”
In context“The company provides a monthly travel allowance to cover the costs of commuting between the regional offices.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
n.the amount of something that you are officially allowed to have or use.
n.the specific amount or quantity of something that is permitted by a regulation or contract.
Simple“The airline has a strict baggage allowance of twenty kilograms per person.”
In context“The environmental agency reduced the annual carbon allowance for heavy industries to meet new sustainability targets.”
Synonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the act of accepting a lower standard because of a special reason or problem.
n.the act of taking mitigating circumstances into account when making a judgment or calculation.
Simple“You should make allowance for the fact that he is still learning the job.”
In context“When calculating the project timeline, the manager made allowance for potential delays caused by the winter weather.”
Usagealmost always used in the phrase 'make allowance(s) for'.
Synonyms - 04 C1 Advanced
n.a small, planned difference in size between two parts that must fit together.
n.a planned deviation between an exact dimension and a nominal dimension to allow for proper fit or function.
Simple“The engineer calculated the allowance between the piston and the cylinder.”
In context“The design specifies a tight allowance to ensure the mechanical components remain stable under high thermal stress.”
- 05 C2 Proficiency
v.to limit the amount of food or drink someone is allowed to have.
v.to put someone on a fixed or limited portion of provisions.
Simple“The sailors were allowanced to one gallon of water per day during the drought.”
In context“During the long siege, the garrison was strictly allowanced to ensure the remaining grain lasted until spring.”
Usage make allowance
“The latest proposals would ban foreign nationals from almost all welfare payments including housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, child benefit, free childcare and disability benefits.”
“Jenrick’s policy paper goes further by stopping foreign-born households claiming universal credit, housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker’s allowance, child benefit, free childcare, free school meals or disability benefits.”
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Latin laus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin laudō Latin allaudō Old French aloer ▲ Latin ad- Latin locus ▲ Latin -ō Latin locō Latin allocō Old French aloer Old French alouer Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -iader. Old French -ance Old French alouancebor. Middle English allouance English allowance From Middle English allouance, from Old French alouance. Morphologically allow + -ance.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.