dispense

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“
The conviction that books were a possession with which no convent could dispense, appears in many medieval writers.

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Definitions (32)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. transitive verb To deal out in parts or portions; distribute. See Synonyms at distribute.
  2. transitive verb To prepare and give out (medicines).
  3. transitive verb To administer (laws, for example).
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

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dispense:   dispensing ·  dispensed ·  dispenses
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English dispensen, from Old French dispenser, from Latin dispēnsāre, to distribute, frequentative of dispendere, to weigh out : dis-, out; see dis- + pendere, to weigh; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly also dispence; from Middle English dispensen = Dutch dispenseren = German dispensiren = Danish dispensere = Swedish dispensera, from Old French despenser, despencer, French dispenser = Provencal Spanish Portuguese dispensar = Italian dispensare, spensare, from Latin dispensare, weigh out, pay out, distribute, regulate, manage, control, dispense, freq. of dispendere, past participle dispensus, weigh out, Middle Latin expend: see dispend.
  2. Also dispence; from Middle English dispense, despense, also dispence, despence, from Old French despense (also despens), French dispense (later Swedish dispens) = Provencal despensa (also despens) =Old Spanish despesa = Portuguese despesa, despeza = Italian dispensa, from Middle Latin dispensa, expense, provision, also a buttery, larder, spence (see spence, which is an abbreviation of dispense), from Latin dispendere, past participle dispensus, dispend, expend: see dispend.
 

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/dɪsˈpɛns/
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