Allow, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Allowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Allowing.]
Etymology: [OE. alouen, OF. alouer, aloer, aluer, 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. Allocate, Laud.]
1. To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction. [Obs. or Archaic] Ye allow the deeds of your fathers. Luke xi. 48. We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his life, approve his learning. Fuller.
2. To like; to be suited or pleased with. [Obs.] How allow you the model of these clothes Massinger.
3. To sanction; to invest; to intrust. [Obs.] Thou shalt be . . . allowed with absolute power. Shak.
4. 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. Macaulay.
4 more senses
5. 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. Thackeray.
6. To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; esp. to abate or deduct; as, to allow a sum for leakage.
7. To grant license to; to permit; to consent to; as, to allow a son to be absent.
Syn. -- To allot; assign; bestow; concede; admit; permit; suffer; tolerate. See Permit.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Allow, v. i.
To admit; to concede; to make allowance or abatement. Allowing still for the different ways of making it. Addison. To allow of, to permit; to admit. Shak.
Shades of meaning
We allow that which we do not attempt to hinder; we permit that to which we give some express authorization. When this is given verbally it is called permission; when in writing it is commonly called a permit. There are establishments that any one will be allowed to visit without challenge or hindrance; there are others that no one is allowed to visit without a permit from the manager; there are others to which visitors are admitted at specified times, without a formal permit. We allow a child's innocent intrusion; we concede a right; grant a request; consent to a sale of property; permit an inspection of accounts; sanction a marriage; tolerate the rudeness of a well-meaning servant; submit to a surgical operation; yield to a demand or necessity against our wish or will, or yield something under compulsion; as, the sheriff yielded the keys at the muzzle of a revolver, and allowed the mob to enter. Suffer, in the sense of mild concession, is now becoming rare, its place being taken by allow, permit, or tolerate. Compare permission.
Prepositions
To allow of (in best recent usage, simply to allow) such an action; allow one in such a course; allow for spending-money.