Allowance

n. [Fr. allowance.]

1. The act of allowing, granting, or admitting; admission; acknowledgment.
2. Permission or license; approbation; usually slight approbation.

Without the king's will or the state's allowance. Shak.

3. Freedom from restraint; indulgence. Locke.
4. That which is allowed; a portion appointed; a stated quantity, as of food or drink; hence (Naut.), a limited quantity of meat and drink, when provisions fall short.
5. Abatement; deduction; as, to make allowance for the inexperience of youth.
6. Established character; reputation. [Obs.] “A pilot of approved allowance.” Shak.
7. (Com.) A customary deduction from the gross weight of goods, different in different countries, such as tare and tret.