VocabauraVOCABAURA

allocation

noun

Simple meaning

Restriction of an embryonic cell and its clonal descendants to a particular cell type or body region.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

aluhkayshuhn

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

æləˈkeɪʃən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The process or procedure for allocating things, especially money or other resources.

  2. That which is allocated; allowance, entitlement.

  3. embryology

    Restriction of an embryonic cell and its clonal descendants to a particular cell type or body region

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The process or procedure for allocating things, especially money or other resources.

Used this way, allocation is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use allocation

  • “The committee made the allocation of funds for various projects.”

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “allocation”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Procedure

resource allocationcost allocationbudget allocation

Other combinations

asset allocationefficient allocationmemory allocationallocation processwater allocation

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • allocation unitnounCompound term

    A group of sectors on a magnetic disk that can be reserved for the use of a particular file.

  • file allocation tablenounCompound term

    The part of a floppy disk or hard disk where information is stored about the location of each piece of information on the disk (and about the location of unusable areas of the disk).

  • storage allocationnounCompound term

    The assignment of particular areas of a magnetic disk to particular data or instructions.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “allocation” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.