Dispensation \Dis`pen*sa"tion\, n. [F. dispensation, L. dispensatio.]

1. The act of dispensing or dealing out; distribution; often used of the distribution of good and evil by God to man, or more generically, of the acts and modes of his administration.

To respect the dispensations of Providence. --Burke.

2. 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.

3. 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 Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)