quota
Americannoun
-
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
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.
IMF members approved a 50% quota increase in December 2023.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
As a result, Italy - and other European nations - had to relax their quota regulations, which led to an influx of overseas players heading to Serie A towards the end of the century.
From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026
The quota of Australian beef allowed into the EU will increase more than 10 times the current level over the next decade, although that falls short of the level Australian farmers had been seeking.
From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026
Then at the end of 2024, Germany announced that it would increase the skilled work visa quota for Indian citizens from 20,000 per year to 90,000.
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026
Dropped a quota, thanks to Pima, who had had the sense to run for her when she heard that her missing crewboy was down in the shallows instead of up in the ship.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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.
