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allow

Pronunciation: /əˈlaʊ/

The English word “allow” has 13 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To let one have as a suitable share of something.
  2. To present something as possible or reasonable.
  3. To permit, to give permission to.
  4. To not bar or obstruct.
  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.
  6. To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.
  7. To make an allowance, to take into account when making plans.
  8. To render physically possible.
  9. To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.
  10. To sanction; to invest; to entrust.
  11. To like; to be suited or pleased with.
  12. To decide (a request) in favour of the party who raised it; to grant victory to a party regarding (a request).
  13. To forgo bothering with, to let slide.

Etymology

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.