allocation
Americannoun
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the act of allocating; apportionment.
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the state of being allocated.
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the share or portion allocated.
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Accounting. a system of dividing expenses and incomes among the various branches, departments, etc., of a business.
noun
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the act of allocating or the state of being allocated
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a part that is allocated; share
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accounting a system of dividing overhead expenses between the various departments of a business
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social welfare (in a Social Services Department) the process of assigning referrals to individual workers, thus changing their status to cases
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of allocation
First recorded in 1525–35; from Medieval Latin allocātiōn- (stem of allocātiō ), equivalent to allocāt(us) ( see allocate) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
If it is your job to decide how much money goes to three charities, you are in charge of the allocation of your donation. The money each charity gets is their allocation. You'll often hear this word used when talking about things like government funding. People often debate the allocation of federal funds. Should tax dollars be used for the military, or for domestic needs like education and healthcare? These decisions are made by Congress and the President, who work together to create a budget to allocate funds appropriately.
Vocabulary lists containing allocation
Dwight D. Eisenhower, "The Military-Industrial Complex" (1961)
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The Martian
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Old Trafford, which was due to host a Test in 2027 - as per the venue allocation made in 2023, external - will host an ODI against Pakistan.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
In this environment, keeping some allocation in gold to hedge against the unforeseen is rational.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The proposed sum is staggering to people familiar with the State Department’s allocation practices and would dwarf the organization’s budget.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
The law, which has been in place since 1969, requires cities and counties every eight years to develop plans to add housing based on a specific allocation that takes into account the region’s needs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
None had their complete allocation of walls and ceilings.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
The rise of zombie funds could lead to more institutional and high-net-worth investors reducing their private-equity allocations, O’Connor said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
About half of participants choose to stay in the company plan, and their allocations continue on.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
They can also check their level of investments against target allocations to see if they need to rebalance their portfolios.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
“This argues for reconsidering portfolio allocations that were shaped during the low-yield, low-volatility decade following the global financial crisis,” said the Pimco team.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 13, 2026
Shift schedules, fund allocations, project juggling, out-and-out looting of other projects . . . he'd never pulled so many stunts in his life.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.