dispensation

dispensation is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 2 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 40 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.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. Neither are God's methods or intentions different in his dispensations to each private man. Rogers.
  2. 2.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.). A dispensation was obtained to enable Dr. Barrow to marry. Ward.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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