"friendly informal gathering, a gathering for social purposes," 1870, from social (adj.). In late 17c. it meant "a companion, associate."

"leave, sanction; the act of allowing," early 15c., permissioun, from Old French permission and directly from Latin permissionem (nominative permissio) "a giving up, a yielding; permission," noun of action from past-participle stem of permittere (see permit (v.)).

late 15c., contenauncen, "to behave or act (as if)," from countenance (n.). Sense of "to favor, appear friendly to, patronize" is from 1560s, from notion of "to look upon with sanction or smiles." Related: Countenanced; countenancing.

"commendation, sanction," 1680s, from approve + -al (2). According to OED, "Rare bef. 1800; now generally used instead of" approvance, which is attested by 1590s, from French aprovance.

early 15c., "act the part of, represent in performance," from en- (1) "make, put in" + act (v.). Meaning "decree, establish, sanction into law" is from mid-15c. Related: Enacted; enacting.

late 15c., "speech, discourse, conversation," from talk (v.). Meaning "informal lecture or address" is from 1859. Meaning "a subject of gossip" is from 1620s (in talk of the town). Talk show first recorded 1965; talk radio is from 1985.

"act by which a competent authority gives sanction and validity to something done by another," mid-15c., ratificacion, from Old French ratification (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin ratificationem (nominative ratificatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of ratificare "to confirm, approve" (see ratify).

late 14c., "praise" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French aloance "sanction, granting, allocation," from aloer "allot, apportion, assign" (see allow). As with allow, the English word involves senses of two different French words.

The meaning "sanction, approval, tolerance" is from 1550s. The sense of "a sum allotted to meet expenses" is from c. 1400. In accounts, the meaning "a sum placed to one's credit" is attested from 1520s. The mechanical meaning "permissible deviation from a standard" is from 1903. To make allowances is to add or deduct a sum from someone's account for some special circumstance; figurative use of the phrase is attested from 1670s.

late 14c., "to refuse to praise" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French desalouer "to blame," from des- "not, opposite of" (see dis-) + alouer (see allow). Meanings "to reject, refuse to receive or acknowledge," also "refuse to allow, refuse to approve or sanction" are from c. 1400. Related: Disallowed; disallowing; disallowance.

1620s, "small cup, mug," later of the contents of such a vessel, "small drink" (1690s), a word of unknown origin, possibly related to Norfolk dialectal nog "strong ale." OED considers that the similar Celtic words are "no doubt" from English. Informal meaning "head" is attested by 1866 in American English.