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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of allotment
First recorded in 1565–75; allot + -ment; compare French allotement
Explanation
Say you’re stranded on an island with a group of people and you divide your limited food supply. The portion you each receive is your share, also called your allotment. No fighting over the coconuts! The word allotment shows how languages intertwined through the ages. We can see the word's origins in several languages, including the Old English hlot, the Gothic hlauts, the Old High German hloz, and the Old French aloter. All referred to dividing something into groups, or “lots.” A "lot" refers to a group of things — stores refer to shipments of goods as being divided into “lots.” That idea of grouping will help you remember the meaning of allotment.
Vocabulary lists containing allotment
The Dawes Act
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 23–29, 2021
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Fallen Angels
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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.
The Trump administration authorized the release of 172 million barrels—and if drawdowns continue at the current pace, that allotment could dry up in early September.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
The U.S. has drawn 66 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve since late March, on track to potentially exhaust its 172-million-barrel allotment in September.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
When you add the ticket allotment for the three scheduled matches, roughly 18,854 tickets were revoked.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
Communal washing machines line the utility room, bills are divided so each adult pays £115 a month and the storeroom is stocked with canned vegetables from the allotment.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
It had seemed awfully convenient that an entrance to the drive-in was at the edge of my grandpa’s old allotment land.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
