Allocative

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Connected to the process of distributing resources among various needs
2. Pertaining to the way in which resources are allocated to meet different demands
3. Concerning the planning or management of how resources are assigned to different purposes

Etymology: "Allocative" is a plain formation: the adjective "allocate" plus the suffix "-ive," which turns a verb into an adjective meaning "tending toward or relating to" the action. So an allocative process is one that does the work of allocating, here the distribution of resources among competing needs. The suffix has a long ancestry. It descends from Latin "-īvus," which passed through Old French "-if" into Middle English as "-yf" before settling into the modern "-ive." The verb it attaches to, "allocate," is built on the same Latin base, which is why the two words sit so comfortably together.