dispensation

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act of dispensing or dealing out; distribution

   “a fair dispensation of money”

   “The public's health is hardly improved by compounding the existing problem with the dispensation of undocumented, partially true or totally false material.”

2. (countable, uncountable)The distribution of good and evil by God to man.

   “Shall we not accompt theſe a part of Gods dispenſation, and therefore good in the Fountaine, from whence they flowed”

3. (countable, uncountable)That which is dispensed, dealt out, or given; that which is bestowed on someone

   “Bowman certainly lost no time in travelling south to obtain his dispensation once he had published the sermon”

4. (countable, uncountable)A system of principles, promises, and rules ordained and administered; scheme; economy

   “the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations”

   “The sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ introduced the dispensation of pure grace—which means undeserved favor, or God GIVING righteousness, instead of God REQUIRING righteousness, as under Law.[…] The first event in the closing of this dispensation will be the descent of the Lord from Heaven, when sleeping saints will be raised and, together with believers then living, caught up “to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17.”

   “We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their gods.”

5. (countable, uncountable)The relaxation of a law in a particular case; permission to do something forbidden, or to omit doing something enjoined; exemption.

   “Special grounds for giving dispensation to see classified documents include research purposes.”

6. (countable, uncountable)The relaxation of a law in a particular case; permission to do something forbidden, or to omit doing something enjoined; exemption.

   “[H]e had a dispensation for conforming in outward observances to the Protestant faith.”

   “Why, there has gone already to Rome a messenger to crave a second dispensation from his Popeship, and the King himself hath signed the request, praying that you and I should graciously be permitted to wed!”