Meaning

verb administer or bestow, as in small portions

verb grant a dispensation; grant an exemption

verb give or apply (medications)

originFrom Middle English, from Old French dispenser, from Latin dispēnsāre (“to weigh out, pay out, distribute, regulate, manage, control, dispense”), frequentative of dispendere (“to weigh out”), from dis- (“apart”) + pendere (“to weigh”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0