allow

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Latin laus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin laudō Latin allaudō Old French aloer ▲ Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *stel-der. Proto-Italic *stlokos? Old Latin stlocus Latin locus ▲ Latin -ō Latin locō Latin allocō Old French aloer Anglo-Norman alouerbor. Middle English allowen English allow From Middle English allowen, alowen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman allouer, alouer, from Medieval Latin allaudāre, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocō (“to assign”). Doublet of allaud (via allaudāre) or allocate (via allocāre). The similarity with Middle English alyfen (from Old English ālīefan) and German erlauben, both from Proto-Germanic *uzlaubijaną (“to allow”) is unrelated.

1. To let one have as a suitable share of something.

   “to allow a servant his liberty; to allow a free passage; to allow one day for rest”

   “[…] 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.”

2. To present something as possible or reasonable.

   “The event allows of only one interpretation.”

3. To permit, to give permission to.

   “I will allow my son to be absent.”

   “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[…]”

4. To not bar or obstruct.

   “Although I don't consent to their holding such meetings, I will allow them for the time being.”

   “Smoking (is) allowed only in designated areas.”

5. To acknowledge, accept the truth of; to concede; to accede to an opinion; to say something one agrees on in the context of a larger disagreement or reluctance.

   “to allow a right; to allow a claim; to allow an appeal”

   “You must allow that disagreeing about politics puts a strain on a relationship.”

6. To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.

   “to allow a sum for leakage”

   “How much will you allow on my old jalopy?”

7. To make an allowance, to take into account when making plans.

   “When calculating a budget for a construction project, always allow for contingencies.”

8. To render physically possible.

   “The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill.”

   “A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.”

9. To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.

   “Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers”

   “We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his life, approve his learning.”

10. To sanction; to invest; to entrust.

    “Therefore so please thee to return with us, And of our Athens—thine and ours—to take The captainship, thou shalt be met with thanks, Allow'd with absolute power, and thy good name Live with authority. So soon we shall drive back Of Alcibiades the approaches wild, Who, like a boar too savage, doth root up His country's peace.”

11. To like; to be suited or pleased with.

    “How allow you the model of these clothes?”

12. To decide (a request) in favour of the party who raised it; to grant victory to a party regarding (a request).

    “to allow an objection”

    “to allow an appeal”

13. To forgo bothering with, to let slide.

    “Easy on violence, now I doubt it I could’ve banged this face but allowed it”