n. 1
Permission; granting, conceding, or admitting.
n. 2
Approval; approbation.
n. 3
Acknowledgment.
n. 4
An amount, portion, or share that is allotted or granted; a sum granted as a reimbursement, a bounty, or as appropriate for any purpose.
her meagre allowance of food or drink

Related words

Phrases: separation allowance family allowance

Forms

Plural: allowances → licenses, tolerances, grants, permissions…

Choose the right word

or Allowance?

An allowance is a stipulated amount furnished at regular intervals as a matter of discretion or gratuity, as of food to besieged soldiers, or of money to a child or ward.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

grant My father, God grant him peace, was an accountant.
warrant "You can't take this." "This warrant says I can."
stipend Yanni increased Rima's stipend.
adjustment The decline isn't so sharp after seasonal adjustment.
deduction The tax agent allowed the deduction.
rebate My cat ate a part of the rebate check.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
allowance		falling
grant		falling
warrant		falling
stipend		steady
adjustment		falling
deduction		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: gift¹
5 letters: leave¹, grant¹, wages², quota²
6 letters: salary³, margin², permit², remedy³, rebate², ration², leeway², assent²
7 letters: license², consent², warrant², pension², licence², subsidy³, annuity⁴, alimony⁴, stipend²
8 letters: approval³, discount²
9 letters: authority⁴, admission³, tolerance³, clearance², deduction³, abatement³, accedence
10 letters: commission³, permission³, adjustment³, concession³, recompense³, toleration⁴, sufferance
11 letters: scholarship³, countenance³, approbation⁴
12 letters: compensation⁴, remuneration⁵
13 letters: qualification⁵, authorization⁵, authorisation

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (wages² = 2 syllables).