earmark

earmark — verb

1. to choose that some money, time, or other resource is set aside for a particular

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to choose that some money, time, or other resource is set aside for a particular use, someone's benefit, or a planned goal

Example

The city council voted to earmark three million dollars for public library renovations.

pattern: earmark + amount + for + purpose

Devika's research grant was earmarked for after-school science programmes in low-income areas.

passive: be earmarked for [purpose]

Common collocations
  • earmark funds / money / resources
  • earmarked for a purpose
  • earmark part of something
  • earmark a portion / percentage
Synonyms
  • allocate

    more neutral; earmark adds a sense of pre-planned reservation

  • designate

    more formal; often used for official appointments or naming

  • reserve

    emphasises keeping something aside, not necessarily for a pre-determined purpose

  • appropriate

    very formal; used almost exclusively in government or legal contexts to mean setting aside funds through an official act

Antonyms
  • divert

    to redirect earmarked resources away from their intended purpose

Grammar Patterns

earmark + noun + for + purpose

be earmarked + for + noun/gerund

Usage Note

Often used in the passive voice (be earmarked for). The preposition 'for' introduces the purpose. The subject is typically an institution, government, or organisation, though individuals can also earmark personal resources such as time or income.

Common Mistakes

The committee earmarked the proposal.
The committee earmarked funds for the proposal.
Earmark requires both a resource being set aside and a purpose; it cannot be used as a synonym for 'approved' or 'supported.'
The money was earmarked to buy books.
The money was earmarked for buying books.
The standard pattern is 'earmarked for + noun/gerund'; the 'to + infinitive' structure is occasionally seen in informal use but is not the preferred form.

earmark — noun

Word family

  • earmarked
    adjectiveB2
  • unearmarked
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words involve setting something aside for a purpose, but they differ in scope and register. Allocate is the most general and neutral term — it simply means distributing resources according to a plan, without any implication of pre-planning ('the committee will allocate funds to each department'). Designate is more formal and often implies an official naming or appointment of something for a role ('the area was designated a wildlife sanctuary'), not just resource distribution. Reserve emphasises keeping something available for future use without necessarily committing to a specific purpose ('reserve a table for dinner'). Earmark is the most specific of the group: it implies a planned, intentional assignment of a resource to a particular, often predetermined purpose, especially in government or institutional budgeting ('funds earmarked for road repairs'). Appropriate is the most formal and is used almost exclusively in government or legal contexts to mean setting aside money through an official legislative act. In everyday writing, choose allocate for neutral distribution, earmark for pre-planned purpose, and reserve for keeping something available without a firm commitment.

allocate ↗designate ↗reserve ↗appropriate ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • clearly earmarked
  • specifically earmarked

Prepositions

Etymology

EnglishOld English (ēare + mearc)Middle English (eremark)

Earmark was formed by combining 'ear' (the organ of hearing) with 'mark' (a visible sign). The word originally referred to a literal notch or cut made on the ear of a farm animal to show ownership, first recorded in the 16th century. From this concrete meaning, the figurative sense of 'a distinguishing feature or characteristic' developed in the early 17th century — as if a quality marked someone's identity the way a cut marks a sheep. The verb sense 'to set aside for a purpose' emerged in the 19th century from the idea of marking something as designated for a particular owner or use. The modern US political sense of a congressional budget provision appeared in the late 20th century, drawing on the verb's sense of allocating funds for a specific purpose.