Added 9 October 2026
allow
/əˈlaʊ/ verb
In Latin: sinō, condōnō Wiktionary
verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about allow at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
Origin
From Middle English allowen, alowen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman allouer, alouer, from Medieval Latin allaudāre, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin allocō (“to assign”). Doublet of allaud (via allaudāre) or allocate (via allocāre). The similarity with Middle English alyfen (from Old English ālīefan) and German erlauben, both from Proto-Germanic *uzlaubijaną (“to allow”) is unrelated.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)