quota
Americannoun
-
quotas
plural
-
the share or proportional part of a total that is required from, or is due or belongs to, a particular district, state, person, group, etc.
- Synonyms:
- allocation, apportionment, allotment
-
a proportional part or share of a fixed total amount or quantity.
-
the number or percentage of persons of a specified kind permitted to enroll in a college, join a club, immigrate to a country, etc.
noun
-
the proportional share or part of a whole that is due from, due to, or allocated to a person or group
-
a prescribed number or quantity, as of items to be manufactured, imported, or exported, immigrants admitted to a country, or students admitted to a college
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of quota
1660–70; < Medieval Latin, short for Latin quota pars how great a part?
Explanation
A quota is a specific number of things. If a quota is placed on the total number of apples each visitor can pick at an orchard, it means that once you've picked a certain number of apples, you have to stop. Usually a quota places an upper limit on the total number or amount of some item. There are quotas placed on all kinds of things, like immigrants entering a country, goods exported, or students admitted to a particular school. Quota comes from the Latin phrase quota pars, or "how large a part".
Vocabulary lists containing quota
Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Human Geography - Middle School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Human Geography - High School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The shift in tactics comes as ICE leaders face growing pressure from the White House to increase the number of daily arrests they perform, to meet a quota of about 2,000 a day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
A candidate could win comfortably in a local constituency and still fail to enter parliament if their party had already filled its quota with stronger performances elsewhere.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
“In those circumstances, another quota increase doesn’t necessarily add physical supply.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
A small amount of foreign dairy is able to enter Canada tariff-free or at low tariff rates under set quota limits.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
I know this is where I’m supposed to laugh, but I seem to have used up my pretending quota for the day, and it’s not even nine thirty yet.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
"The Ghana Tourism Authority also latched on to it and then used it to enhance their tourism project," Asare explains, saying the initiative started to become less about "repair" and more about hitting tourism quotas.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
OPEC+ "faces potentially difficult talks over new production quotas" starting next year following the September increase, according to analysts at DNB Carnegie.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
The ability for Persian Gulf producers to “translate higher quotas into actual exports still depends on shipping conditions through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Salih Yilmaz, a senior industry analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
But it sets no quotas and doesn’t forbid the recruitment of “white and Asian men already trained in the field.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
As a result, the United States rigidly enforced its refugee quotas.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
