allowance

noun · verb

Simple meaning

An amount, portion, or share that is allotted or granted.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhlowuhns

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈlaʊəns

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

An amount allowed or granted (as during a given period)
An amount, portion, or share that is allotted or granted; a sum granted as a reimbursement, a bounty, or as appropriate for any purpose.
A sum granted as reimbursement for expenses
Such a sum or portion granted to a family member or familiar, especially one's own child; pocket money for such a person.
Permission; granting, conceding, or admitting.
Abatement; deduction; the taking into account of mitigating circumstances.

verb

transitive
To put upon a fixed allowance (especially of provisions and drink).
transitive
To supply in a fixed and limited quantity.
Put on a fixed allowance, as of food

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An amount allowed or granted (as during a given period)

Used this way, allowance 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 allowance

“He objected to the allowance of smoking in the dining room.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Sum

family allowance

Permissible

due allowance

Other combinations

seam allowancedepreciation allowancemake allowancesome allowancemaking allowancehousing allowance

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

allowableadjectiveDerived adjective
That may be permitted especially as according to rule.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

allowance accountnounCompound term
A reserve fund created by a charge against profits in order to provide for changes in the value of a company's assets.
cost-of-living allowancenounCompound term
An allowance for changes in the consumer price index.
depreciation allowancenounCompound term
An allowance for loss due to depreciation.
travel allowancenounCompound term
A sum allowed for travel.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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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.