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Allowance vs Access - What's the difference?

allowance | access |

As nouns the difference between allowance and access

is that allowance is the act of allowing, granting, conceding, or admitting; authorization; permission; sanction; tolerance while access is a way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.

As verbs the difference between allowance and access

is that allowance is to put upon a fixed allowance (especially of provisions and drink); to supply in a fixed and limited quantity while access is to gain or obtain access to.

allowance

Alternative forms

* allowaunce (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The act of allowing, granting, conceding, or admitting; authorization; permission; sanction; tolerance.
  • * Without the king's will or the state's allowance. --
  • Acknowledgment.
  • * The censure of the which one must in your allowance overweigh a whole theater of others. --
  • That which is allowed; a share or portion allotted or granted; a sum granted as a reimbursement, a bounty, or as appropriate for any purpose; a stated quantity, as of food or drink; hence, a limited quantity of meat and drink, when provisions fall short.
  • * I can give the boy a handsome allowance. -- .
  • Abatement; deduction; the taking into account of mitigating circumstances; as, to make allowance for the inexperience of youth.
  • * After making the largest allowance for fraud. -- .
  • (commerce) A customary deduction from the gross weight of goods, different in different countries, such as tare and tret.
  • A child's allowance; pocket money.
  • She gives her daughters each an allowance of thirty dollars a month.
  • (minting) A permissible deviation in the fineness and weight of coins, owing to the difficulty in securing exact conformity to the standard prescribed by law.
  • (obsolete) approval; approbation
  • (Crabbe)
  • (obsolete) license; indulgence
  • (John Locke)

    Synonyms

    * (money) * (minting) (l), (l)

    Verb

    (allowanc)
  • To put upon a fixed allowance (especially of provisions and drink); to supply in a fixed and limited quantity.
  • The captain was obliged to allowance his crew.
    Our provisions were allowanced .

    access

    English

    Etymology 1

    * First attested in the early 14th century. * (entrance) First attested about 1380. * From (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Noun

  • (uncountable) A way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.
  • * All access was thronged. - Milton
  • (uncountable) The act of approaching or entering; an advance.
  • (uncountable) The right or ability of approaching or entering; admittance; admission; accessibility.
  • (uncountable) The quality of being easy to approach or enter.
  • * c. 1600 , (William Shakespeare), Act 2 Scene 1
  • I did repel his fetters, and denied His access to me. - Shakespeare, Hamlet, II-i
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=September 20 , author=Graeme Paton , title=University access plan 'will fail', says Russell Group , work=Telegraph citation , page= , passage=Coalition plans to widen access to university will fail to get to the 'root cause' of the problem, according to the Russell Group.}}
  • (uncountable) Admission to sexual intercourse.
  • * 1760s , (William Blackstone),
  • During coverture, access of the husband shall be presumed, unless the contrary be shown.
  • (countable) An increase by addition; accession; as, an access of territory.
  • * I, from the influence of thy looks, receive access in every virtue. - Milton
  • (countable) An onset, attack, or fit of disease; an ague fit.
  • * The first access looked like an apoplexy. - Burnet
  • (countable) An outburst of an emotion; a paroxysm; a fit of passion; as, an access of fury.
  • * 1946 , Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History (Abridgement of Volumes I-VI by D.C. Somervell)
  • It appears that, about the middle of the fourth century of the Christian Era, the Germans in the Roman service started the new practice of retaining their native names; and this change of etiquette, which seems to have been abrupt, points to a sudden access of self-confidence and self-assurance in the souls of the barbarian personnel which had previously been content to 'go Roman' without reservations.
    Usage note: sometimes confused with excess
  • (uncountable, legal) The right of a non-custodial parent to visit their child.
  • (uncountable, computing) The process of locating data in memory.
  • (uncountable, Internet) Connection to or communication with a computer program or to the Internet.
  • Derived terms
    * direct access * random access * remote access

    Etymology 2

    * First attested in 1962.

    Verb

    (es)
  • To gain or obtain access to.
  • (computing) To have access to (data).
  • I can't access most of the data on the computer without a password.

    References

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    Statistics

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