allocation

[al-uh-key-shuhn]

noun

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.

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of allocation¹

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

Example Sentences

But the company’s capital allocation strategy has been to use free cash flow mainly to buy back stock, rather than to pay down debt.

Read more on Barron's

When central banks change their reserve allocations, it sends a signal to the market that a country’s currency, asset prices, or trading power could be headed higher or lower.

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In his view, the company is trying to ramp up the capacity of graphics processing units it makes every year, and that means keeping the same allocation from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Read more on MarketWatch

But two days before the festival, after chasing Miles for months, Seb says he contacted Glastonbury Festival to confirm the allocation of hospitality passes.

Read more on BBC

Some limited partners say their investment opportunities are already being whittled down as firms allocate more deals to their evergreen funds, and cut back allocations to institutional funds.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• allotment 
• appropriation 
• quota 
• share