Navigation
Home
Resources
Irregular verbs quizzes English conjugator English-French dictionary French dictionary English dictionary Monolingual dictionaries Scores by institution Free sample tests FAQ Pricing Tourism training Blog Videos
Login Sign up
Blog
Videos
Pricing
FR EN

allocate

verb, adj, noun — 5 senses

allocate

verb

UK /ˈæl.ə.keɪt/ · CA, US /ˈæl.əˌkeɪt/

Etymology From Latin allocātus, perfect passive participle of Latin allocō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to”) + locō. Doublet of allow. By surface analysis, al- + locate.

1

To set aside for a purpose.

  • Please do not eat the meringue, as it is allocated for the dinner party tomorrow.
  • By March 1994, it had moved to Cardiff Canton, and was still allocated there when its nameplates were taken off in March 1997.2024 January 10, Chris Gilson, “RAIL's famous five...”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 27:
2

To distribute according to a plan, generally followed by the adposition to.

  • The bulk of K–12 education funds are allocated to school districts that in turn pay for the cost of operating schools.
3

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To reserve a portion of memory for use by a computer program.

  • The memory manager allocates memory to requesting processes until there is no more memory available or until there are no more processes waiting for memory.2011, José M. Garrido, Richard Schlesinger, Kenneth Hoganson, Principles of Modern Operating Systems, 2nd edition, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, →ISBN, page 264:
Derived terms
allocable, allocatable, allocatee, allocative, allocator, misallocate, overallocate, preallocate, reallocate, suballocate, underallocate
Related terms
allocable, allocation, lieu, locate

allocate

adj

Etymology From Middle English allocat(e) (“allocated”), originally used as the past participle of allocate, from Latin allocātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

1

Obsolete, Of a pension or allowance allocated

allocate

noun

Etymology From Middle English allocate (the common first word of writs authorizing payment), from Medieval Latin allocātum, substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of allocātus, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Alternatively, from allocāte, the second-person plural imperative of allocō, compare English liberate (“a warrant for the payment of a pension, allowance, debt, etc.”).

1

Law UK, Historical, Obsolete A writ authorizing payment, allowance, grant.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

Learn more