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appropriation - 4 dictionary results

ap⋅pro⋅pri⋅a⋅tion

  [uh-proh-pree-ey-shuhn]
Use appropriation in a Sentence
–noun
1. the act of appropriating.
2. anything appropriated for a special purpose, esp. money.
3. an act of a legislature authorizing money to be paid from the treasury for a specified use.
4. the money thus authorized: a large appropriation for aid to libraries.
Origin:
1325–75; ME (< MF) < LL appropriātiōn- (s. of appropriātiō). See appropriate, -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ap·pro·pri·a·tion   (ə-prō'prē-ā'shən)   
n.  
  1. The act of appropriating.
    1. Something appropriated, especially public funds set aside for a specific purpose.
    2. A legislative act authorizing the expenditure of a designated amount of public funds for a specific purpose.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Appropriation

Ap*pro`pri*a"tion\, n. [L. appropriatio: cf. F. appropriation.]

1. The act of setting apart or assigning to a particular use or person, or of taking to one's self, in exclusion of all others; application to a special use or purpose, as of a piece of ground for a park, or of money to carry out some object.

2. Anything, especially money, thus set apart.

The Commons watched carefully over the appropriation. --Macaulay.

3. (Law) (a) The severing or sequestering of a benefice to the perpetual use of a spiritual corporation. Blackstone. (b) The application of payment of money by a debtor to his creditor, to one of several debts which are due from the former to the latter. --Chitty.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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appropriation

The grant of money by a legislature for some specific purpose. The authority to grant appropriations, popularly known as the power of the purse, gives legislatures a powerful check over executive branches and judicial branches, for no public money can be spent without legislative approval. Congress, for example, can approve or reject the annual budget requests of the executive branch for its agencies and programs, thereby influencing both domestic and foreign policy. (See also checks and balances and pork-barrel legislation.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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