dispen

v. t. [ OF. despendre, L. dispendere to weigh out, dispense; dis- + pendere to weigh. See Pension, Spend, and cf. Dispense. ] To spend; to lay out; to expend. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Able to dispend yearly twenty pounds and above. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who dispends or expends; a steward. [ Obs. ] Wyclif (1 Cor. iv. 1). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. dispensabilis. See Dispense. ] 1. Capable of being dispensed or administered. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Capable of being dispensed with. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being dispensable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Dispensaries [ Cf. F. dispensaire. ] 1. A place where medicines are prepared and dispensed; esp., a place where the poor can obtain medical advice and medicines gratuitously or at a nominal price. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A dispensatory. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. dispensation, L. dispensatio. ] 1. The act of dispensing or dealing out; distribution; often used of the distribution of good and evil by God to man, or more generically, of the acts and modes of his administration. [ 1913 Webster ]

To respect the dispensations of Providence. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is dispensed, dealt out, or appointed; that which is enjoined or bestowed; especially (Theol.), A system of principles, promises, and rules ordained and administered; scheme; economy; as, the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations. [ 1913 Webster ]

Neither are God's methods or intentions different in his dispensations to each private man. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The relaxation of a law in a particular case; permission to do something forbidden, or to omit doing something enjoined; specifically, in the Roman Catholic Church, exemption from some ecclesiastical law or obligation to God which a man has incurred of his own free will (oaths, vows, etc.). [ 1913 Webster ]

A dispensation was obtained to enable Dr. Barrow to marry. Ward. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. dispensatif. ] Granting dispensation. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By dispensation. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]