An allowance can be various things, depending on the context. The word allowance (pronounced ) is an English word originating from the Old French word alouance (which evolved from Latin allaudāre, "to praise" and from Medieval Latin allocāre, "to assign"). The allow- root refers most generally to the concept of permission; an allowance in most abstract terms is an act or instance of something being allowed, that is, permitted. From this most general meaning flow many specific meanings of allowance in English, detailed in following sections.