dispense

See also dispensé

English

Etymology

From Old French despenser (Modern French dépenser), from Latin dispensare (“to weight out, pay out, distribute, regulate, manage, control, dispense”), frequentative of dispendere (“to weight out”), from dis- (“apart”) + pendere (“to weigh”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /dɪsˈpɛns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛns

Verb

dispense (third-person singular simple present dispenses, present participle dispensing, simple past and past participle dispensed)

1. To issue, distribute, or put out.
   • 1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber 2005, p. 40:

     The smoky spray seemed to trap whatever light there was and to dispense it subtly.

2. To supply or make up a medicine or prescription.

   The pharmacist dispensed my tablets.

   An optician can dispense spectacles.

3. To eliminate or do without–used intransitively with with.

   I wish he would dispense with the pleasantries and get to the point.

4. (obsolete) To give a dispensation to (someone) to do something against the law.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.34:

     After his victories, he often gave them the reines to all licenciousnesse, for a while dispencing them from all rules of military discipline [...].

Translations

To issue, distribute, or put out

• Bulgarian: раздавам (bg) (razdavam), разпределям (bg) (razpredeljam)
• Dutch: uitgeven (nl), uitdelen (nl), verdelen (nl)
• Finnish: antaa (fi), jakaa (fi), tarjota (fi)
• French: émettre (fr), distribuer (fr), partager (fr)

• German: ausgeben (de), austeilen (de), verteilen (de)
• Swedish: utdela (sv), dela ut (sv), fördela (sv), förmedla (sv), utge (sv), ge ut (sv)
• Turkish: dağıtmak (tr), tevzi etmek (tr)

To supply or make up a medicine or prescription

• Dutch: doseren (nl),
• French: doser (fr),

• German: dosieren (de)
• Turkish: ilaç hazırlamak (tr)

To eliminate or do without

• Bulgarian: минавам без (bg) (minavam bez)
• Dutch: afschaffen (nl),
• Finnish: jättää väliin (fi), ohittaa (fi)
• French: éliminer (fr),

• German: abgeben (de)
• Swedish: lösa (sv), frikalla (sv), frita (sv)
• Turkish: bırakmak (tr)

Derived terms

• dispensary
• dispenser

Noun

dispense (plural dispenses)

1. (obsolete) Cost, expenditure.
2. (obsolete) The act of dispensing, dispensation.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.xii:

     what euer in this worldly state / Is sweet, and pleasing vnto liuing sense, / Or that may dayntiest fantasie aggrate, / Was poured forth with plentifull dispence [...].

Related terms

• dispend
• dispensable
• dispensation
• dispensative
• dispensatory

External links

• dispense in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• dispense in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• dispense at OneLook Dictionary Search

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French

Verb

dispense

1. first-person singular present indicative of dispenser
2. third-person singular present indicative of dispenser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of dispenser
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of dispenser
5. second-person singular imperative of dispenser

Anagrams

• pendisse

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Italian

Noun

dispense f

1. Plural form of dispensa

Verb

dispense

1. third-person singular past historic of dispegnere

Anagrams

• pendessi

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Spanish

Verb

dispense (infinitive dispensar)

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of dispensar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of dispensar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of dispensar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of dispensar.

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Portuguese

Verb

dispense

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of dispensar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of dispensar
3. first-person singular imperative of dispensar
4. third-person singular imperative of dispensar