allegation

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˌæl.ɪˈɡæɪ.ʃən/ UK /ˌæl.ɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #20077

Meanings

1

noun
A claim, usually an accusation, that someone has done something wrong, made without proof.

She made several serious allegations against her former employer.
2

noun
A formal accusation made in a court of law.

The company faces allegations of fraud.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a claim, usually an... accusation

2 noun · a formal accusation made in... allegement

More assertion censure charge crimination impeachment

Word family

Forms allegations

Derived forms misallegationreallegation

Related forms allegatorallege

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French allégation, from Latin allegatio, from allegare. By surface analysis, allege + -ation, see allege.

allegatio Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style

External links

# allegation

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌæl.ɪˈɡæɪ.ʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌæl.ɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 20077

## Meanings
1. A claim, usually an accusation, that someone has done something wrong, made without proof.
2. A formal accusation made in a court of law.

## Examples
- She made several serious allegations against her former employer.
- The company faces allegations of fraud.

## Synonyms
- accusation
- assertion
- censure
- charge
- crimination
- impeachment

## Derived Forms
- misallegation
- reallegation

## Related Forms
- allegator
- allege

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: allegatio

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French allégation, from Latin allegatio, from allegare. By surface analysis, allege + -ation, see allege.

## AI Etymology
Allegation is borrowed from Middle French allégation, from Latin allegatio, from allegare. By surface analysis, allege plus -ation, see allege. The formation is semantically transparent: the parts remain visible, while the compound or affix fixes the grammatical role and narrows the modern meaning. In use as a noun, allegation denotes a claim, usually an accusation, that someone has done something wrong, made without proof and a formal accusation made in a court of law. The same word family continues in derived forms such as misallegation and reallegation and related entries such as allegator and allege.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- Register & Style

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