allocation

American  

[al-uh-key-shuhn] / ˌæl əˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

allocations plural

1. the act of allocating; apportionment.

2. the state of being allocated.

3. the share or portion allocated.

4. Accounting. a system of dividing expenses and incomes among the various branches, departments, etc., of a business.

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allocation British  

/ ˌæləˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of allocating or the state of being allocated

2. a part that is allocated; share

3. accounting a system of dividing overhead expenses between the various departments of a business

4. social welfare (in a Social Services Department) the process of assigning referrals to individual workers, thus changing their status to cases

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• deallocation
  noun
• reallocation
  noun
• suballocation
  noun
• allocative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• allocations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of allocation

First recorded in 1525–35; from Medieval Latin allocātiōn- (stem of allocātiō ), equivalent to allocāt(us) ( see allocate) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

If it is your job to decide how much money goes to three charities, you are in charge of the allocation of your donation. The money each charity gets is their allocation. You'll often hear this word used when talking about things like government funding. People often debate the allocation of federal funds. Should tax dollars be used for the military, or for domestic needs like education and healthcare? These decisions are made by Congress and the President, who work together to create a budget to allocate funds appropriately.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

allocation allocations

The findings generally support the "risk allocation hypothesis," which proposes that animals change their behavior according to how severe and predictable a threat appears.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

“Many of the hyperscalers are beginning to undo years of carefully manicured capital allocation, with share buybacks now making way for share issues,” says John Lloyd, Janus Henderson’s global head of multisector credit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

“From a JGB market perspective, any increase in GPIF’s allocation to domestic bonds would be supportive,” the members add.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

Nor am I making a definitive argument for a 10% energy allocation.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

However, World Bank members, who came from many countries to meet in Moscow, were divided about the allocation.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

The asset manager is slightly overweight to Japan in its allocations, partly because the yen is at a 40-year low.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

The $48 billion BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio Fund has sizable allocations to mortgage securities—agency and nonagency—and non-U.S. debt.

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

Congress has in the past adjusted the payroll-tax allocations between trust funds when needed.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

They can also check their level of investments against target allocations to see if they need to rebalance their portfolios.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

During that same period, DEA antidrug spending grew from $86 to $1,026 million, and FBI antidrug allocations grew from $38 to $181 million.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• allotment
• appropriation
• quota
• share