allow English · revision 2639

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1315|origins=la laudāre, la locāre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈlaʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|allouen]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) [[bor|xno|allouer]], Old French aloer, alouer,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) in which two Old French verbs of similar form had merged.^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) One is from [[la-med|allocāre|t=to place, assign]], the source of [[allocate]];^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Hoad 1986) the other, meaning “to praise, approve”, is from [[la|allaudāre|t=to praise]], from [[m|la|ad-|t=to]] and [[m|la|laudāre|t=to praise]], the source of [[laud]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) The two had been confused in Old French, and were treated as senses of one word by the time it came into English.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “To praise, commend; to approve of”: about 1315,^(OED 1989) the early 14th century^(Etymonline) or before 1325, in ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Between the two original meanings, “assign” and “approve”, a range of senses grew that blend them: to grant with approval, concede, admit, permit.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) “To sanction, permit” is from the late 14th century, and of expenses in business by the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) “To accept as true, admit” is from 1548.^(OED 1989) The noun [[allowance]] kept both: “money granted” from the first verb and “permission based on approval” from the second.^(Etymonline) The colloquial sense “to assert, say”, known in 19th-century American English, was also in English dialect and goes back to the 1570s.^(Etymonline)^(Wright 1898) The sense “to praise” is obsolete or dialect.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1315 – to praise, approve of.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – to permit.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1387 – ''allowance''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 15th century – to allow expenses.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1548 – to admit as true.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1570s – to assert, say.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To let something happen; to [[permit]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To let someone have something: ''allowed an hour for lunch''.^(AHD)

+ # To set aside or plan for: ''allow time for delays''.^(AHD)

+ # To [[admit]] or concede as true.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(allow for)'' To take into account.^(AHD)

+ # ''(US, dialect)'' To say or suppose.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[allowable]]

+ * [[allowably]]

+ * [[allowance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[disallow]]

+ * [[allocate]]

+ * [[laud]]

+ * [[locate]]

+ * [[allot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Irish, Somerset and Devon dialect ''allow'' meant “to suppose, consider”, and in north Yorkshire and Berkshire ''allow!'' was a cry for setting dogs on to the chase.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}