quota
Americannoun
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the share or proportional part of a total that is required from, or is due or belongs to, a particular district, state, person, group, etc.
- Synonyms:
- allocation, apportionment, allotment
-
a proportional part or share of a fixed total amount or quantity.
-
the number or percentage of persons of a specified kind permitted to enroll in a college, join a club, immigrate to a country, etc.
noun
-
the proportional share or part of a whole that is due from, due to, or allocated to a person or group
-
a prescribed number or quantity, as of items to be manufactured, imported, or exported, immigrants admitted to a country, or students admitted to a college
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of quota
1660–70; < Medieval Latin, short for Latin quota pars how great a part?
Explanation
A quota is a specific number of things. If a quota is placed on the total number of apples each visitor can pick at an orchard, it means that once you've picked a certain number of apples, you have to stop. Usually a quota places an upper limit on the total number or amount of some item. There are quotas placed on all kinds of things, like immigrants entering a country, goods exported, or students admitted to a particular school. Quota comes from the Latin phrase quota pars, or "how large a part".
Vocabulary lists containing quota
Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation
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Human Geography - Middle School
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Human Geography - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
No longer were millions arrested on absurd charges or simply to fill a quota.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
But Hansen said the need for a higher quota "is not imminent" as production volumes are still far from their pre-conflict levels.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
The European Commission said on Tuesday that half of that 18.3 million ton quota is set aside for countries with free-trade agreements with the EU.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Energy Information Administration, Iraq could, if it chose to ignore quota restrictions, lift its production to 7 million bpd by 2029, an increase of at least 75% from today.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
The rest of the day, I’m so distracted I don’t make my quota.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
An anticoercion tool that allows the EU to easily impose tariffs, quotas or export restrictions has never been used.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
But those quotas would be far from sufficient and risk being lopsided, warned Simon Michel, head of medical technology company Ypsomed, which makes injection systems for diabetes.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
The NGO is also calling for the introduction of quotas to ensure women's representation in senior management roles.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Then, after the factory raised production quotas by a fifth, he resigned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
“I can feel when I’ve found one. Then I have to snap the stem, brush off the dirt, and toss it in the collection bin. Pero tan rápido. We have quotas to make.”
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
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.
