quota

noun

quo·​ta ˈkwō-tə 

1

: a proportional part or share

especially : the share or proportion assigned to each in a division or to each member of a body

2

: the number or amount constituting a proportional share

3

: a fixed number or percentage of minority group members or women needed to meet the requirements of affirmative action

Synonyms

• allotment
• allowance
• cut
• end
• part
• piece
• portion
• proportion
• share
• slice
• take

Examples of quota in a Sentence

The agency imposes strict fishing quotas.

The company has imposed quotas on hiring.

He lost his driver's license because he exceeded the quota of traffic violations.

The department set new sales quotas in January.

Recent Examples on the Web

And then there are officers like Mr. Raymond, who was among 12 police officers who sued the department in 2015 over arrest quotas that the department says do not exist. —Jeffery C. Mays, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2023

Indeed, the earliest efforts to tackle racial disparities in the workforce began in the 1960s and ’70s, when companies used racial quotas to combat those biases in hiring, Prieto said. —Taylor Telford, Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2023

The majority Malays are Muslim by law and enjoy quotas in everything from university seats and jobs to business loans and housing under a decades-old affirmative action program. —Time, 11 Oct. 2023

To own a car in Singapore, a buyer must bid for a certificate that now costs $106,000, equivalent to four Toyota Camry Hybrids in the U.S., as a post-pandemic recovery has driven up the cost of the city-state's vehicle quota system to all-time highs. —Fox News, 4 Oct. 2023

But that has stressed the VA workers tasked with moving cases along amid a backlog, mandatory overtime, inadequate training and quota demands, according to two former claims processors and four current processors who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. —Melissa Chan, NBC News, 30 Sep. 2023

Still, the group thinks quotas could be much higher. —Joshua Goodman, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2023

Employees describe severe and chronic understaffing, low pay, high vaccination quotas, long stretches without bathroom breaks, abusive management and violent customers. —Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 6 Oct. 2023

As long as the agencies had enough funding, wildlife managers would reliably seek age data year after year to update species reports, set harvest quotas, and maintain an accurate view of overall species health. —Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 28 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin, from Latin quota pars how great a part

First Known Use

1618, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

quota

noun

quo·​ta ˈkwōt-ə 

1

: a share or part assigned to each member of a group

2

: the number or amount making up a quota

Legal Definition

quota

noun

quo·​ta ˈkwō-tə 

1

: a proportional part or share assigned to each in a body

2

: a specific amount that serves as a minimum or maximum

a law against traffic ticket quotas

Etymology

Medieval Latin, from Latin quota pars how great a part