DISPENSATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dispensation mean? 

• DISPENSATION (noun)
  The noun DISPENSATION has 3 senses:

1. an exemption from some rule or obligation

2. a share that has been dispensed or distributed

3. the act of dispensing (giving out in portions)

  Familiarity information: DISPENSATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISPENSATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An exemption from some rule or obligation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("dispensation" is a kind of...):

license; permission; permit (the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dispensation"):

variance (an official dispensation to act contrary to a rule or regulation (typically a building regulation))

Derivation:

dispense (grant a dispensation; grant an exemption)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A share that has been dispensed or distributed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("dispensation" is a kind of...):

part; percentage; portion; share (assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group)

Derivation:

dispense (give or apply (medications))

dispense (administer or bestow, as in small portions)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of dispensing (giving out in portions)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("dispensation" is a kind of...):

distribution (the act of distributing or spreading or apportioning)

Derivation:

dispense (give or apply (medications))

dispense (administer or bestow, as in small portions)

 Context examples 

And, as to procuring a dispensation, there could be no difficulty at his time of life, and with his character.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I, in my stiff- necked rebellion, almost cursed the dispensation: instead of bending to the decree, I defied it.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It was clear enough, as I have told you, years before YOU ever saw her—and why, in the mysterious dispensations of Providence, you ever did see her, is more than humanity can comprehend—it was clear enough that the poor soft little thing would marry somebody, at some time or other; but I did hope it wouldn't have been as bad as it has turned out.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)