dispensary
Americannoun
plural
dispensaries-
a place where something is dispensed, especially medicines.
-
a charitable or public facility where medicines are furnished and free or inexpensive medical advice is available.
noun
Etymology
Origin of dispensary
1690–1700; < Medieval Latin dispēnsāria storeroom, equivalent to Latin dispēns ( āre ) to dispense + -āria -ary
Explanation
A dispensary is the room or area in a hospital where medicine is prepared and given out to patients. You can use the term dispensary when you talk about the office within a hospital — or occasionally other places, like schools — from which prescriptions can be distributed. A dispensary is often run by a pharmacist, doctor, or nurse, who is authorized to dispense — or hand out — medicine. The root is the Latin word dispensarius, "one who dispenses," from dispensare, "disburse, administer, or distribute by weight."
Vocabulary lists containing dispensary
Latin Love, Vol III: pendere
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Invisible Son
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Hunting by Stars
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The dispensary system is a transitional structure, a relic of the era when cannabis was treated as a dangerous exception.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
Kiloh said that between state and local taxes, his legal dispensary customers end up paying 47% in taxes on their purchase.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2025
From the outside, it looks like your standard-issue corporate dispensary, largely because of where it is.
From Salon • Apr. 20, 2025
She added that her shop was "propping up" the dispensary.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2024
When the physical-education officer at Lowery Field ordered everyone to fall out for calisthenics one afternoon, Yossarian, the private, reported instead at the dispensary with what he said was a pain in his right side.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
