quota

[kwoh-tuh]

noun

1. 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

2. a proportional part or share of a fixed total amount or quantity.

3. the number or percentage of persons of a specified kind permitted to enroll in a college, join a club, immigrate to a country, etc.

quota

/ ˈkwəʊtə /

noun

1. the proportional share or part of a whole that is due from, due to, or allocated to a person or group

2. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of quota¹

1660–70; < Medieval Latin, short for Latin quota pars how great a part?

Word History and Origins

Origin of quota¹

C17: from Latin quota pars how big a share?, from quotus of what number

Example Sentences

Brussels hoped the proposal would then see the EU team up with Washington to tackle Chinese overcapacity, and Sefcovic had been pushing his US counterparts agree on steel import quotas.

Read more on Barron's

He eliminated internal competition at the company by assigning each salesperson a specific geographic territory, and instituted sales quotas and contests.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But federal agents, under pressure to meet arrest quotas, have vastly widened their net, targeting public-facing workplaces that pay low wages.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

From her shell-shocked expression, I wonder if she’s also hit her quota of strange creatures for the day.

Read more on Literature

“Our quota for Colored mathematicians has already been filled this year.”

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• allocation 
• allotment 
• allowance 
• measure