allotment

Noun

allotment (countable and uncountable, plural allotments)

1. The act of allotting.
   • You will achieve more in designated sessions of quiet uninterrupted periods than in a longer allotment of time broken up by various activities.2007, Ruth Chambers, Kay Mohanna, David Wall, How to Succeed as a Leader
   • The allotment of particular names to special ideas which gradually disengage themselves from a general idea is apparently determined by accident.1873, Henry Sumner Maine, The early history of the property of married women
2. Something allotted; a share, part, or portion granted or distributed
   • The history attached to it could not but recur to Emily as she passed, and her heart sank within her—not with fear, but at the thought, how much of misery there was in the world; and why should she be spared amid such general allotment?1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 13
   • Similar customs prevailed in a part of Friesland, the most notable of which was the ‘Jus Theelacticum,’ or custom of the Theel lands, doles, or allottable lands in East Friesland, not far from the mouth of the Ems. There an inherited allotment was indivisible; on the death of the father it passed...1906, Thomas William Shore, chapter 9, in Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race
3. The allowance of a specific amount of money or other credit of a particular thing to a particular person.
   • Maynard used to help before he got sick, but there was no income except what I brought in my allotment.2013, Maxine Holsinger, The Life of Maxine Holsinger
4. (UK) A plot of land rented from the council for growing fruit and vegetables.
   • The fallout of this unexpected turn of events was that it was Saturday morning, the first day of the Easter holidays, before the thought of my allotment even entered my head. Goodness only knew how big my carrots were going to be by the time I got round there!2015, Cathy Bramley, Ivy Lane