Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AL-LOW'ANCE, n.

1. The act of allowing or admitting.
2. Permission; license; approbation; sanction; usually slight approbation. – Locke. Shak.
3. Admission; assent to a fact or state of things; a granting. – Hooker.
4. Freedom from restraint; indulgence.
5. That which is allowed; a portion appointed; a stated quantity, as of food or drink; hence, in seaman's language, a limited quantity of meat and drink, when provisions fall short.
6. Abatement; deduction; as, to make an allowance for the inexperience of youth.
7. Established character; reputation; as, a pilot of approved allowance. [Obs.] – Shak.