Dispensation

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of dispensing or dealing out; distribution countable, uncountable

    "a fair dispensation of money"

  2. 2
    the act of dispensing (giving out in portions) wordnet
  3. 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. 4
    an exemption from some rule or obligation wordnet
  5. 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
  1. 6
    a share that has been dispensed or distributed wordnet
  2. 7
    A system of principles, promises, and rules ordained and administered; scheme; economy countable, uncountable

    "the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations"

  3. 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."

  4. 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."

Etymology

From Old French despensacion, from Latin dispensātiō. By surface analysis, dispens(e) + -ation.

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