allowance English · revision 15509

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1377}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈlaʊəns/; /əˈlaʊɪns/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|allowaunce]], [[bor|frm|alouance|t=sanction, granting, allocation]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|fro|alouer|t=to allot, assign; to approve]] (see [[allow]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) Like allow, it combines senses of two different French words, one meaning to praise or approve and one to place or grant.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Praise, a sense now obsolete: 1377 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A sum allotted to meet expenses is from about 1400,^(Etymonline) and a sum allowed in an account from 1393.^(OED 1989) Approval or sanction is from the 1550s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and permission or tolerance from 1628.^(OED 1989) ''To make allowances'' was first to add or deduct a sum for special circumstances; its figurative use is from the 1670s.^(Etymonline) The engineering sense, a permitted deviation from a standard, is from 1903.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates a sense to 1758, and the verb, to put on a fixed allowance, is from 1839.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1377 – praise (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1393 – a sum allowed in account.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – money for expenses.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1550s – approval.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1670s – make allowances (figurative).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An amount of money or goods given regularly or for a particular purpose: ''a weekly allowance''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An amount allowed or permitted: ''a baggage allowance''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British)'' An amount of income not subject to tax.^(Collins 2023)

+ # Make allowances: to take something into account or treat someone leniently.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[allow]]

+ * [[allot]]

+ * [[allocate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scots and several English dialects an allowance was a small portion of food or drink given to workmen between meals;^(Wright 1898) in Ulster it meant permission.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}