dispensation

[ dis-puhn-sey-shuhn, -pen- ]

noun

1. an act or instance of dispensing; distribution.

   Synonyms: bestowal, dissemination, dispersion

2. something that is distributed or given out.
3. a certain order, system, or arrangement; administration or management.
4. Theology.
   1. the divine ordering of the affairs of the world.
   2. an appointment, arrangement, or favor, as by God.
   3. a divinely appointed order or age:

      the old Mosaic, or Jewish, dispensation; the new gospel, or Christian, dispensation.

5. a dispensing with, doing away with, or doing without something.
6. Roman Catholic Church.
   1. a relaxation of law in a particular case granted by a competent superior or the superior's delegate in laws that the superior has the power to make and enforce:

      a dispensation regarding the Lenten fast.

   2. an official document authorizing such a relaxation of law.

dispensation

/ ˌdɪspɛnˈseɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of distributing or dispensing
2. something distributed or dispensed
3. a system or plan of administering or dispensing
4. RC Church
   1. permission to dispense with an obligation of church law
   2. the document authorizing such permission
5. any exemption from a rule or obligation
6. Christianity
   1. the ordering of life and events by God
   2. a divine decree affecting an individual or group
   3. a religious system or code of prescriptions for life and conduct regarded as of divine origin

Derived Forms

• ˌdispenˈsational, adjective

Other Words From

• dispen·sation·al adjective
• dis·pen·sa·to·ri·ly [dih-, spen, -s, uh, -tawr-, uh, -lee, -tohr-], adverb
• nondis·pen·sation noun
• nondis·pen·sation·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dispensation¹

1325–75; Middle English dispensacioun < Medieval Latin dispēnsātiōn- (stem of dispēnsātiō ) a pardon, relaxation, Late Latin: order, system, divine grace, Latin: distribution, equivalent to dispēnsāt ( us ) (past participle of dispēnsāre to dispense; -ate ¹ ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

I must have gone over thousands of appraisals, and I’ve never seen one – except for in cases of litigation or estate dispensation – where they had to go back in time to set the value.

From Voice of San Diego

The Catholic Church was also deeply threatened by the secular goals of the Popular Front and offered a kind of blanket dispensation for the use of violence in exchange for maintaining their moral monopoly over society.

From Time

As in many countries, delivery drivers were considered essential workers and allowed the same dispensation as health workers to move around.

From Time

While the new political dispensation allows Nyang and others to poke fun at Gambian leaders, the spread of social media has also opened up space for new voices.

From Ozy

He says the state denied his request for special dispensation to bring in workers to help, even as Amazon was allowed to have on-site employees fulfill its own rush of online orders.

From Time

Our narrator insists that such a dispensation was never on offer or agreed to in 1982 when the band came together.

From The Daily Beast

As a freelance writer under the old dispensation, I had qualified as a Sole Proprietor and was able to insure both of us.

From The Daily Beast

A few weeks later, after many appeals, I was given special dispensation to return briefly to my hometown to bury her ashes.

From The Daily Beast

Does this special dispensation apply to all democratically elected governments?

From The Daily Beast

Instead, it needs the special dispensation of a party leader or speaker.

From The Daily Beast

Seen thus poverty became rather a blessing than a curse, or at least a dispensation prescribing the proper lot of man.

From Project Gutenberg

As for the ruin of any other party, the idea, by a very happy dispensation, never once occurred to him.

From Project Gutenberg

For these people, under the older dispensation, there was nothing but the poorhouse, the jail or starvation by the roadside.

From Project Gutenberg

And not less, than under a former dispensation, is the exercise represented as an act of obedience in New Testament times.

From Project Gutenberg

It stands enjoined among those precepts that are inculcated for every dispensation.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• exemption
• immunity
• reprieve