Dispense

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /dɪˈspɛns/

Definitions

1. To distribute or provide something, especially in measured amounts or portions, or to exempt someone from a requirement
2. To allocate or give out items, particularly in specific quantities or portions, while also allowing for the release of an obligation or rule
3. To issue or supply goods in defined amounts, as well as to excuse someone from adhering to certain conditions or expectations

Etymology: Weighing and doling out are close kin here. The Latin "dispendere" meant "to weigh out," built from "dis-" ("apart") and "pendere" ("to weigh"), the same root that gives English "pendulum" and "suspend." Its frequentative form, "dispensare," intensified that sense into "to distribute, manage, regulate," so a Roman steward who measured out rations was doing exactly what the word described. The idea of careful, measured portioning is still embedded in the verb. The word reached English in Middle English through Old French "dispenser," which carried the same notion of distributing and managing. Its earliest English senses centred on administering or distributing goods and funds, and the sense of handing out supplies in set quantities grew naturally from that. The second meaning, excusing someone from a rule, developed from the older idea of managing or regulating. To dispense with a law was to set it aside in a particular case, which is how "dispense" came to mean a licence to exempt someone from obligations, and why we still speak of dispensations and dispensing with formalities.

Synonyms: distribute, administer

Antonyms: withhold