allotment
Americannoun
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the act of allotting.
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a portion or thing allotted; a share granted.
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(in U.S. military use) the portion of pay that an officer or enlisted person authorizes to be paid directly to another person, as a dependent, or an institution, as an insurance company.
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British. a plot of land rented to a gardener.
noun
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the act of allotting; apportionment
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a portion or amount allotted
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a small piece of usually public land rented by an individual for cultivation
Other Word Forms
- misallotment noun
- nonallotment noun
- proallotment adjective
- reallotment noun
Etymology
Origin of allotment
First recorded in 1565–75; allot + -ment; compare French allotement
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.
Roughly half the annual visa allotment goes to foreign students already in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
Along with CalFresh, she gets a monthly allotment of healthy food through the Women, Infants and Children program.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 8, 2025
McCarthy says their federal food allotment is down 35%.
From Salon • Oct. 11, 2025
She shows me ripening limes and lemons inside her allotment greenhouse.
From BBC • Aug. 16, 2025
“These pledges don’t total up to our allotment yet.”
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
