allow
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English allouen, from Old French alouer , from Medieval Latin allaudāre (“to praise”), (ad-) + laudare, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocāre (“to assign”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Verb
allow (third-person singular simple present allows, present participle allowing, simple past and past participle allowed)
- (transitive) To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
- To allow a servant his liberty
- To allow a free passage
- To allow one day for rest.
- 1895, Anton Chekhov, translated by Constance Garnett - Ariadne
- ...he needed a great deal of money, but his uncle only allowed him two thousand roubles a year, which was not enough, and for days together he would run about Moscow with his tongue out, as the saying is
- (transitive) To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.
- To allow a right
- To allow a claim
- To allow the truth of a proposition.
- (Can we date this quote?) William Makepeace Thackeray.
- I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that Miss Newcome's conduct . . . was highly reprehensible.
- (transitive) To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct;
- To allow a sum for leakage.
- (transitive) To grant license to; to permit; to consent to.
- To allow a son to be absent
- Smoking allowed only in designated areas.
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii
- With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]
- To not bar or obstruct.
- Although I don't consent to their holding such meetings, I will allow them for the time being.
- (intransitive) To acknowledge or concede.
- 2000, George RR Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam 2011, p. 154:
- Half the night passed before the wench allowed that it might be safe to stop.
- 2000, George RR Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam 2011, p. 154:
- (transitive) To take into account by making an allowance.
- When calculating a budget for a construction project, always allow for contingencies.
- (transitive) To render physically possible
- 1824, Washington Irving, The Devil and Tom Walker
- The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill.
- 1824, Washington Irving, The Devil and Tom Walker
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
to grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have
to acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion
to take into account as a deduction or an addition
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to permit
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to let something happen, to admit, to concede
to make allowance
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
[edit] References
- allow in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
[edit] Statistics
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Most common English words before 1923: killed · marriage · religious · #874: allow · spent · soldiers · speech
