The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Allow \Al*low"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Allowed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Allowing.] [OE. alouen, OF. alouer, aloer, aluer, F.
   allouer, fr. LL. allocare to admit as proved, to place, use;
   confused with OF. aloer, fr. L. allaudare to extol; ad +
   laudare to praise. See Local, and cf. Allocate, Laud.]
   1. To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction. [Obs. or
      Archaic]
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            Ye allow the deeds of your fathers.   --Luke xi. 48.
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            We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his
            life, approve his learning.           --Fuller.
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   2. To like; to be suited or pleased with. [Obs.]
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            How allow you the model of these clothes?
                                                  --Massinger.
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   3. To sanction; to invest; to intrust. [Obs.]
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            Thou shalt be . . . allowed with absolute power.
                                                  --Shak.
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   4. To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let
      one have; as, to allow a servant his liberty; to allow a
      free passage; to allow one day for rest.
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            He was allowed about three hundred pounds a year.
                                                  --Macaulay.
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   5. To own or acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to
      accede to an opinion; as, to allow a right; to allow a
      claim; to allow the truth of a proposition.
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            I allow, with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that
            Miss Newcome's conduct . . . was highly
            reprehensible.                        --Thackeray.
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   6. To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; esp.
      to abate or deduct; as, to allow a sum for leakage.
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   7. To grant license to; to permit; to consent to; as, to
      allow a son to be absent.
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   Syn: To allot; assign; bestow; concede; admit; permit;
        suffer; tolerate. See Permit.
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