allocator

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈæləˌkeɪtɚ/ UK /ˈæləkeɪtə/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a person or thing that distributes resources among uses or claimants

The memory allocator hands out fresh blocks as the program requests them.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person or thing that... distributorapportionerassignerdispenser

Word family

Related forms allocate allocation allocable

Etymology

From allocate + -or; from Medieval Latin allocāre ('to allot'), from ad- ('to') + locāre ('to place'), from locus ('place').

allocāre Latin locus Latin

View etymology graph ->

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People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# allocator

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈæləˌkeɪtɚ
**IPA (UK):** ˈæləkeɪtə

## Meanings
1. a person or thing that distributes resources among uses or claimants

## Examples
- The memory allocator hands out fresh blocks as the program requests them.

## Synonyms
- distributor
- apportioner
- assigner
- dispenser

## Related Forms
- allocate
- allocation
- allocable

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: allocāre
- Root: locus

## Etymology
From allocate + -or; from Medieval Latin allocāre ('to allot'), from ad- ('to') + locāre ('to place'), from locus ('place').

## AI Etymology
allocator comes from allocate + -or; from Medieval Latin allocāre ('to allot'), from ad- ('to') + locāre ('to place'), from locus ('place'). Morphologically, the word is transparent: -or is attached to the older base named in the history, so the modern form packages an inherited or borrowed stem inside a later English derivative. In modern use, the noun sense is "a person or thing that distributes resources among uses or claimants", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as allocate, allocation, allocable, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Latin allocāre, Latin locus, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

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

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allocator

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