allowance

The following statistics are based on the British National Corpus, so they are representative for the British English.

Distribution of usage frequency for the most common synonyms of the noun allowance:

Definition of the noun allowance

What does allowance mean as a name of something?

noun - plural: allowances

an amount allowed or granted (as during a given period)
- examples: travel allowance | my weekly allowance of two eggs | a child's allowance should not be too generous
- lexical domain: Possessions - nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
- more generic words: part / percentage / portion / share = assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group
- more specific term: privy purse = allowance for a monarch's personal expenses
a sum granted as reimbursement for expenses
- lexical domain: Possessions - nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
- more generic word: reimbursement = compensation paid (to someone) for damages or losses or money already spent etc.
- more specific terms:
  - per diem = a daily allowance for living expenses
  - travel reimbursement / travel allowance = a sum allowed for travel
an amount added or deducted on the basis of qualifying circumstances
- example: an allowance for profit
- lexical domain: Possessions - nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
- synonym of allowance: adjustment
- more generic word: recompense = payment or reward
- more specific terms:
  - cost-of-living allowance = an allowance for changes in the consumer price index
  - depreciation allowance = an allowance for loss due to depreciation
  - deduction / discount = an amount or percentage deducted
  - seasonal adjustment = a statistical adjustment made to accommodate predictable fluctuations as a function of the season of the year
  - tare = an adjustment made for the weight of the packaging in order to determine the net weight of the goods
a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits
- lexical domain: Attributes - nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
- synonyms of allowance: leeway / margin / tolerance
- more generic words: disagreement / discrepancy / divergence / variance = a difference between conflicting facts or claims or opinions
a reserve fund created by a charge against profits in order to provide for changes in the value of a company's assets
- lexical domain: Possessions - nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
- synonyms of allowance: allowance account / valuation account / valuation reserve
- more generic terms: reserve account / reserve fund = funds taken out of earnings to provide for anticipated future payments
the act of allowing
- example: He objected to the allowance of smoking in the dining room
- lexical domain: Acts - nouns denoting acts or actions
- more generic words: license / permission / permit = the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization
- more specific word: tolerance = the act of tolerating something

Alternative definition of the noun allowance

noun

The act of allowing, granting, conceding, or admitting; authorization; permission; sanction; tolerance.
- synonym: stipend
See Acknowledgment.
That which is allowed; a share or portion allotted or granted; a sum granted as a reimbursement, a bounty, or as appropriate for any purpose; a stated quantity, as of food or drink; hence, a limited quantity of meat and drink, when provisions fall short.
Abatement; deduction; the taking into account of mitigating circumstances; as, to make allowance for the inexperience of youth.
[context: commerce] A customary deduction from the gross weight of goods, different in different countries, such as tare and tret.
A child's allowance; pocket money.

Definition of the verb allowance

What does allowance mean as a doing word?

verb - inflections: allowanced | allowancing | allowances

put on a fixed allowance, as of food
- lexical domain: Possession - verbs of buying, selling, owning
- more generic words: allow / grant = let have

Music

"Allowance" is a musical EP of Isolée.

released on 25 February 2013

Miscellanea

Allowance: An allowance is an amount of money given or allotted usually at regular intervals for a specific purpose. In the context of children, parents may provide an allowance to their child for their miscellaneous personal spending. In the construction industry it may be an amount allocated to a specific item of work as part of an overall contract.
Allowance: In engineering and machining, an allowance is a planned deviation between an actual dimension and a nominal or theoretical dimension, or between an intermediate-stage dimension and an intended final dimension. The unifying abstract concept is that a certain amount of difference allows for some known factor of compensation or interference. For example, an area of excess metal may be left because it is needed to complete subsequent machining. Common cases are listed below. An allowance, which is a planned deviation from an ideal, is contrasted with a tolerance, which accounts for expected but unplanned deviations.

Phrases with allowance

Printed dictionaries and other books with definitions for allowance

Click on a title to look inside that book (if available):

Marketing (2008)

by William Pride, Ferrell

One such trade allowance is a buying allowance, a temporary price reduction offered to resellers for purchasing specified quantities of a product. A soap producer, for example, might give retailers $1 for each case of soap purchased.

How Social Security Works (2011)

An Introduction to Benefits in Britain by Paul Spicker

Attendance Allowance is the main benefit for disabled people over retirement age – and most disabled people are over retirement age. Despite the name...

Disability Living Allowance is a more complex benefit for disabled people under 65.

Federal Tax Policy (2001)

by Joseph A. Pechman

The basic allowance is the payment made by the government when the family or individual receives no income; the break-even level is the income level at which no payment is received and no taxes are paid; and the tax rate is the rate at ...

Marketing Express (2008)

by William Pride, O. C. Ferrell

One such trade allowance is a buying allowance, which is a temporary price reduction offered to resellers for purchasing specified quantities of a product. A soap producer, for example, might give retailers $1 for each case of soap purchased.

Dictionary of Accounting (1985)

by Ralph W. Estes

allowance (1) An account deducted from an asset account to reflect a reduction in value or utility of the asset; a contra asset.

Encyclopedia of Canadian Social Work (2005)

by Francis J. Turner

Mother's Allowance Commission (ON) eration to inherit the nation. Examples of public interventions were provided by the implementation of the mothers aid programs in some of the American states and, as well, by support provided by the ...

Encyclopedia Of Corrosion Technology (2004)

by Philip A. Schweitzer, P.E.

CORROSION ALLOWANCE The requited wall thickness of a pressure vessel or storage tank is derermined by the physical and mechanical properties of the specific metal or alloy being used and the operating conditions of remperature and ...

The Entrepreneur's Dictionary of Business and Financial Terms (2013)

by Khwaja Masoom

Allowance Method Allowance: (1) An acceptable reduction in quantity or quality such as normal spoilage in a manufacturing operation. (2) A reduction in the amount owed a supplier because of damaged goods received or delays encountered ...

Dictionary of Environmental Economics (2012)

by Renat Perelet, Pamela Mason, Anil Markandya, Tim Taylor

allowance. agroforestry. A form of intercropping in which annual herbaceous crops are interspersed with perennial trees or shrubs. The deeper-rooted trees can often exploit water and nutrients not available to the herbs. The trees may also ...

Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations (2005)

by Deborah W. Cutler, Thomas J. Cutler

BAH Basic Allowance for Housing BAI Bearing-Range Indicator BAIC Binary Asymmetric Independent Channel BÄKS Barracks BAL Balance Ballistics Boats and Landing Craft BALDNY Ballistic Density BALLUTES Balloon-Parachutes ...