Etymograph

English

allocate

Allocate comes from Latin allocātus ‘allocated’, from locus ‘place’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stel-1‘to put, to place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stlokos1uncertain
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEstlocus1
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocus1‘place’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocō1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEallocō2‘to allocate’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEallocātus2‘allocated’perfect passive participle of allocō
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2011allocate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin alloco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English allocate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, José M. Garrido, Richard Schlesinger: “The memory manager allocates memory to requesting processes until…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stel-Wiktionary, Latin alloco‘to put, to place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stlokosWiktionary, Latin allocouncertain
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEstlocusWiktionary, Latin alloco
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocusWiktionary, Latin alloco‘place’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocōWiktionary, Latin alloco
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEallocōWiktionary, English allocate‘to allocate’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEallocātusWiktionary, English allocate‘allocated’perfect passive participle of allocō
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2011allocateWiktionary, English allocate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, José M. Garrido, Richard Schlesinger: “The memory manager allocates memory to requesting processes until…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *stel- ‘to put, to place’

stole, install, stool, apostle, stall, stalk, stale, epistle, stele, stolid, stela, apostolate, stell, 25 more

through Old Latin stlocus

locality, milieu, locale, 9 more

through Latin locus ‘place’

local, location, lieu, locus, loco, locative, 12 more

through Latin locō

allowance, locator, collocation, 7 more

through Latin allocō ‘to allocate’

allow, 2 more

Today it means

verb To set aside for a purpose.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “allocate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin alloco. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *stel- / allocate

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