Allocated

How to spell allocated

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce allocated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does allocated mean?

1. verbSet aside or assigned a particular amount, resource, or role for a specific purpose.

Allocated in a sentence

• The committee allocated most of the budget to staff training.

• Each department was allocated a fixed number of parking spaces.

Where does allocated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the medieval Latin verb allocare, meaning 'to place' or 'to assign to a position', which was built from the prefix ad- (meaning 'to' or 'towards') and the noun locus (meaning 'place' or 'spot'). The same locus root sits inside familiar words such as 'location', 'local', and 'locomotive', all of which share the underlying idea of a fixed place. The Latin prefix ad- assimilated to al- before the 'l' of locare, which is precisely why the modern spelling carries the doubled letter 'll'. English took the word up through accounting and administrative contexts during the 1600s, where 'to allocate' meant to set down a sum or a resource in its proper account or position. From there the meaning broadened into the everyday sense of distributing money, time, or duties, and the past form 'allocated' simply marks that the assigning has already been done.

How the word is built

• al- (assimilated form of ad-: to, towards)
• loc (from Latin locus: place)
• -ate (verb-forming suffix)
• -ed (past tense/participle)