different between allow vs confer

English

Etymology

From Middle English allowen, alowen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman allouer, alouer, from Medieval Latin allaud?re, present active infinitive of allaud?, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin alloc? (“to assign”). The similarity with Middle English alyfen (from Old English ?l?fan, ?l?efan) and German erlauben, both from Proto-Germanic *uzlaubijan? (“to allow”) is coincidental.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??la?/
• enPR: ?-lou'
• Rhymes: -a?

Verb

allow (third-person singular simple present allows, present participle allowing, simple past and past participle allowed)

1. (transitive) To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
2. (transitive) To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.
3. (transitive) To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.

4. (transitive) To grant license to; to permit; to consent to.
5. To not bar or obstruct.
6. (transitive) To take into account by making an allowance.

7. (transitive) To render physically possible.
8. (transitive, obsolete) To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.
9. (obsolete) To sanction; to invest; to entrust.
10. (transitive, obsolete) To like; to be suited or pleased with.

Synonyms

• allot, assign, bestow, concede, admit, let, permit, suffer, tolerate

Derived terms

Related terms

• allowance
• disallow

Translations

References

• allow in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Etymology

From Early Modern English conferre, from Middle French conférer, from Old French conferer, from Latin c?nfer?. Compare Dutch confereren (“to confer”), German konferieren (“to confer”), Danish konferere (“to confer”), Swedish konferera (“to confer”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?n?f??/, [k?????f?]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?n?f??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Verb

confer (third-person singular simple present confers, present participle conferring, simple past and past participle conferred)

1. (transitive) To grant as a possession; to bestow. [from 16th c.]

   The college has conferred an honorary degree upon the visiting Prime Minister.

   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes

     Nor shall I count in hainous to enjoy
     The public marks of honour and reward
     Conferr'd upon me […]

   • 2010, Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer, 7 Feb 2010:

     The special immunities that are conferred on MPs were framed with the essential purpose of allowing them to speak freely in parliament.
2. (intransitive) To talk together, to consult, discuss; to deliberate. [from 16th c.]

   They were in a huddle, conferring about something.

   • 1974, "A Traveler's Perils", Time, 25 Mar 1974:

     Local buttons popped when Henry Kissinger visited Little Rock last month to confer with Fulbright on the Middle East oil talks.

3. (obsolete) To compare. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1557 (book title):

     The Newe Testament ... Conferred diligently with the Greke, and best approued translations.

   • 1661, Robert Boyle, The Second Essay, of Unsucceeding Experiments

     If we confer these observations with others of the like nature, we may find cause to rectify the general opinion.

4. (obsolete, transitive) To bring together; to collect, gather. [16th–17th c.]
5. (obsolete) To contribute; to conduce. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica

     The closeness and compactness of the parts resting together doth much confer to the strength of the union.

Synonyms

• (to grant, bestow, or contribute): afford

Derived terms

• conferment
• conferrable
• conferral
• agreement conferring jurisdiction

Related terms

• cf, cf.
• conference
• collate
• collation

Translations

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?kon.fer/, [?kõ?f?r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?kon.fer/, [?k?nf?r]

Verb

c?nfer

1. second-person singular present active imperative of c?nfer?. Often abbreviated cf and used to mean "compare with".