allow

Etymology

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 ālīefan) and German erlauben, both from Proto-Germanic *uzlaubijaną (“to allow”) is coincidental.

verb

1. (ditransitive) To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
   to allow a servant his liberty; to allow a free passage; to allow one day for rest
   […] he needed a great deal of money, but his uncle only allowed him two thousand roubles a year, which was not enough, and for days together he would run about Moscow with his tongue out, as the saying is. 2004 [1895], Constance, transl. Garnett, “Ariadne”, in The Darling: and Other Stories, translation of original by Anton Chekhov
2. (transitive) To enable; to permit; to grant license to; to consent to.
   I will allow my son to be absent.
3. To not bar or obstruct.
   Although I don't consent to their holding such meetings, I will allow them for the time being.
   Smoking allowed only in designated areas.
   The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use. 2013-07-26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26
4. (transitive) To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.
   to allow a right; to allow a claim; to allow an appeal to allow the truth of a proposition
   Mr. Knightley, I shall not allow you to be a fair judge in this case. 1815, Jane Austen, chapter 5, in Emma, volume 1
   I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that Miss Newcome's conduct[…]was highly reprehensible. 1855, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Newcomes
   Half the night passed before the wench allowed that it might be safe to stop. 2000, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam, published 2011, page 154
5. (transitive) To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.
   To allow a sum for leakage.
6. (transitive) To take into account by making an allowance.
   When calculating a budget for a construction project, always allow for contingencies.
7. (transitive) To render physically possible.
   The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill. 1824, Washington Irving, “The Devil and Tom Walker”, in Tales of a Traveller
   A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. 2013-06-01, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly)
8. (transitive, obsolete) To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.
   We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his life, approve his learning. 1842, Thomas Fuller, Church History of Britain
9. (obsolete) To sanction; to invest; to entrust.
   Therefore so please thee to return with us, And of our Athens—thine and ours—to take The captainship, thou shalt be met with thanks, Allow'd with absolute power, and thy good name Live with authority. So soon we shall drive back Of Alcibiades the approaches wild, Who, like a boar too savage, doth root up His country's peace. 1623, William Shakespeare, The Life of Timon of Athens
10. (transitive, obsolete) To like; to be suited or pleased with.
    How allow you the model of these clothes? 1632, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, The Fatal Dowry, act 4, scene 1
11. (law, transitive) To decide (a request) in favour of the party who raised it; to grant victory to a party regarding (a request).
    To allow an objection, to find in favour of the objection and forbid the conduct objected to; to allow an appeal, to decide the appeal in favour of the appellant (contrast grant leave to appeal, to permit an appeal to be heard).