allow

Meaning

Verb

• To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
• To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.
• To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.
• To grant license to; to permit; to consent to.
• To not bar or obstruct.
• To take into account by making an allowance.
• To render physically possible.
• To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.
• To sanction; to invest; to entrust.
• To like; to be suited or pleased with.

Related

Similar words

• grant, admit, afford, yield, give, permit, allot, bestow, concede
• permit, consent, let, concede
• tolerate, suffer, permit, admit, concede

Origin

• From Middle English allowen, alowen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman allouer, alouer, from Medieval Latin allaudāre, present active infinitive of allaudō, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocō ("to assign"). The similarity with Middle English alyfen (from Old English ālȳfan, ālīefan) and German erlauben, both from Proto-Germanic *uzlaubijaną is coincidental.