allocation

[al-uh-key-shuh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR allocation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of allocating; apportionment.

the state of being allocated.

the share or portion allocated.

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

Origin of allocation

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

Related formsal·lo·ca·tive, adjectivede·al·lo·ca·tion, nounre·al·lo·ca·tion, nounsub·al·lo·ca·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for allocation

appropriation, share, allotment, quota, portion, ration, apportionment

Examples from the Web for allocation

Contemporary Examples of allocation

In budgetary terms, it was a pittance: 0.1 percent of the CDC's $2.2 billion allocation.
The Reason for Our Woeful Lack of Gun Statistics
David Frum
December 18, 2012
Among other faults, it merely shifts the allocation for visas instead of increasing the total number.
Waiting on a 'Grand Bargain' Superman
Justin Green
December 13, 2012
But the country is poor, and the allocation is only $100,000.
How a GOP Win Could Spell the End of Reproductive Health for Global Women
Michelle Goldberg
February 3, 2012
The Coast Guard saw its allocation plummet from $5.6 million in 1993 to $500,000 annually since 2007.
New Outrage in the Gulf
Rick Outzen
November 30, 2010

Historical Examples of allocation

As respects this allocation, how would I modify that instrument?
'Tis Sixty Years Since
Charles Francis Adams
Recollect, all the management—that is, the allocation—will be entrusted to you.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, Number 360, October 1845
Various
The first order problem is the allocation of scarce resources.
After the Rain
Sam Vaknin
This case constitutes an abuse of the principle of allocation.
The Church on the Changing Frontier
Helen O. Belknap
Recollect, all the management—that is, the allocation—will be intrusted to you.
Tales from "Blackwood"
Various

British Dictionary definitions for allocation

allocation

noun

the act of allocating or the state of being allocated

a part that is allocated; share

accounting, British a system of dividing overhead expenses between the various departments of a business

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for allocation

mid-15c., from Middle French allocacion, from Medieval Latin allocationem (nominative allocatio), noun of action from past participle stem of allocare (see allocate).