n.
- a limited quantity of a product which may be produced, exported, or imported.
- a share of something that one is entitled to receive or bound to contribute.
- a fixed number of a group allowed to do something, e.g. immigrants to enter a country.
- (in a system of proportional representation) the minimum number of votes required to elect a candidate.
Etymology
C17: from med. L. quota (pars) ‘how great (a part)’, fem. of quotus, from quot ‘how many’.