allocation

American  

[al-uh-key-shuhn] / ˌæl əˈkeɪ ʃən /

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.

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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

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

Etymology

Origin of allocation

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

That’s a small fraction of what’s needed, MSF said in its letter, given that “this allocation is capped, demand far exceeds supply, and every dose directed to MSF is a dose unavailable to another program.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

He put the stock’s “underperformance” down to a number of reasons, including the postponement of the group’s U.S. listing, the lack of a publicly disclosed capital allocation plan, and “suboptimal” shareholder communications and engagement.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026

Leeds sold out their entire 9,000 allocation, taking up all the space behind one of the goals and contributing to a fantastic atmosphere.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026

An alternative is the smaller, public Blackstone Secured Lending, which has a similar industry lending allocation and some of the same loans.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 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

Related Words

• allotment
• appropriation
• quota
• share