- OE. alouen, OF. aloueraloeraluer, F. allouer, fr. LL. allocare to admit as proved, to place, use; confused with OF. aloer, fr. L. allaudare to extol; ad + laudare to praise. See Local, and cf. AllocateLaud
- To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.Obs. or ArchaicYe allow the deeds of your fathers.We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his life, approve his learning.
- To like; to be suited or pleased with.ObsHow allow you the model of these clothes?
- To sanction; to invest; to intrust.ObsThou shalt be . . . allowed with absolute power.
- To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have; as, to allow a servant his liberty; to allow a free passage; to allow one day for rest.He was allowed about three hundred pounds a year.
- To own or acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion; as, to allow a right; to allow a claim; to allow the truth of a proposition.I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that Miss Newcome's conduct . . . was highly reprehensible.
- To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; esp. to abate or deduct; as, to allow a sum for leakage.
- To grant license to; to permit; to consent to; as, to allow a son to be absent.To allot; assign; bestow; concede; admit; permit; suffer; tolerate. See Permit.
