Dispensation
noun ·4 syllables ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The act of dispensing or dealing out; distribution countable, uncountable
"a fair dispensation of money"
- 2 the act of dispensing (giving out in portions) wordnet
- 3 The distribution of good and evil by God to man. countable, uncountable
"Shall we not accompt theſe a part of Gods dispenſation, and therefore good in the Fountaine, from whence they flowed"
- 4 an exemption from some rule or obligation wordnet
- 5 That which is dispensed, dealt out, or given; that which is bestowed on someone countable, uncountable
"Bowman certainly lost no time in travelling south to obtain his dispensation once he had published the sermon"
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 a share that has been dispensed or distributed wordnet
- 7 A system of principles, promises, and rules ordained and administered; scheme; economy countable, uncountable
"the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations"
- 8 The relaxation of a law in a particular case; permission to do something forbidden, or to omit doing something enjoined; exemption. countable, uncountable
"Special grounds for giving dispensation to see classified documents include research purposes."
- 9 The relaxation of a law in a particular case; permission to do something forbidden, or to omit doing something enjoined; exemption.; In the Roman Catholic Church, an exemption from some ecclesiastical law, or from an obligation to God which a person has incurred of his own free will (oaths, vows, etc.). countable, uncountable
"[H]e had a dispensation for conforming in outward observances to the Protestant faith."
Example
More examples"Tom applied for a dispensation to hand his assignment in late."
Etymology
From Old French despensacion, from Latin dispensātiō. By surface analysis, dispens(e) + -ation.
Related phrases
More for "dispensation"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.