allotted
Americanadjective
-
assigned as a portion to some person or group or for some purpose.
The allotted time for this task is 25 minutes.
-
divided or distributed by share or portion; parceled out.
Many students have complained about the poorly allotted parking spaces at the university.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of allotted
Explanation
Allotted means given as a share of something. Hopefully you will be happy with your allotted share of candy on Halloween. Something that's allotted is distributed, or shared, like your allotted number of pizza slices. It can also mean your share of a job; on family clean-up day, your allotted task could be taking out the garbage. The Germanic word loter, "lot" or "share," is at the root of allotted. A plus loter form the Old French aloter, "to divide into lots." When you're spelling allotted remember to double up the ls and the ts.
Vocabulary lists containing allotted
Bridge to Terabithia
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George Washington's First Inaugural Address
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On Torch-Bearing "Ineptitude" and Fed "Conclaves": Ten Words in the News You Need to Know
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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.
She has been allotted a third-floor apartment but climbing stairs is painful because of a metal rod in her leg after an operation.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
And those visits often run over their allotted time, meaning that primary care doctors are often behind.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
Researchers at top labs including Alibaba and Z.AI said they are often allotted one-fifth of the high-end chips available to peers at OpenAI and Google.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
She mostly stuck to the allotted time limits while Bass repeatedly whined that she wasn’t given enough time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
I tried to explain that I wouldn't need the allotted fifty minutes.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.