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DictionarydispensationExemption
noun

dispensation

dis-pen-SAY-shun/ˌdɪspenˈseɪʃn/

Special permission to be exempt from a rule or obligation.

The exemption document records a dispensation from the usual requirement.

A formal permission document stamped EXEMPT rests beside a standard requirement checklist.
Etymology
disLatinout, apart
+pensLatinweigh, pay
+ationLatinact or process

The “weigh/pay out” image broadened into administering or managing. In church use, the word family also acquired the sense of granting permission to omit a requirement or depart from a rule.

In context

Allellu244:19
a marriage, which could not be altogether agreeable to him, since it required a dispensation, she being already the sister-in-law of Vysharpt, either the sister of his former wife, or the widow of a deceased brother.
Proofs of a Conspiracy [Part 1 of 2] by John Robison | Full Audiobook, Read-Along

More examples

  • The authority granted a special dispensation for the ceremony.
  • Without a dispensation, the rule still applied.
  • The committee considered his request for dispensation.

Forms

dispensation · dispensations

Similar words

exemption
Exemption frees someone from a requirement; dispensation often emphasizes special permission from an authority.
waiver
A waiver sets aside a right or requirement; a dispensation grants an exception for a particular case.