Sentence:  Life in the army, perhaps for the first time in the history of wars, raised in many respects the conventional standard of requirements,—the soldier was better clothed, better shod, and often better fed than the labourer, and his wife, adding in war time a <WSD>separation allowance</WSD> to new opportunities to earn, had also enlarged her ideas. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A sum of money paid regularly to support the dependents of a member of the military while he or she is serving away from home.