dispensation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of dispensing.
• noun Something dispensed.
• noun A specific arrangement or system by which something is dispensed.
• noun An exemption or release from an obligation or rule, granted by or as if by an authority.
• noun An exemption from a church law, a vow, or another similar obligation granted in a particular case by an ecclesiastical authority.
• noun The document containing this exemption.
• noun The divine ordering of worldly affairs.
• noun A religious system or code of commands considered to have been divinely revealed or appointed.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of dispensing or dealing out; distribution: as, the dispensation of royal favors; the dispensation of good and evil by Divine Providence.
• noun A particular distribution of blessing or affliction dispensed by God to a person, family, community, or nation, in the course of his dealings with his creatures; that which is dispensed or dealt out by God: as, a sad dispensation; a merciful dispensation.
• noun In theology: The method or scheme by which God has at different times developed his purposes, and revealed himself to man; or the body of privileges bestowed, and duties and responsibilities enjoined, in connection with that scheme or method of revelation: as, the old or Jewish dispensation; the new or Gospel dispensation. See grace.
• noun A period marked by a particular development of the divine purpose and revelation: as, the patriarchal dispensation (lasting from Adam to Moses); the Mosaic dispensation (from Moses to Christ); the Christian dispensation.
• noun Management; stewardship; an act or action as manager or steward.
• noun A relaxation of the law in some particular case; specifically, a license granted (as by the pope or a bishop) relieving or exempting a person in certain circumstances from the action, obligations, or penalties of some law or regulation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun 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.
• noun (Theol.) That which is dispensed, dealt out, or appointed; that which is enjoined or bestowed.
• noun 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.).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun 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.
• noun That which is dispensed, dealt out, or appointed; that which is enjoined or bestowed
• noun A system of principles, promises, and rules ordained and administered; scheme; economy; as, the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations.
• noun 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.).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a share that has been dispensed or distributed
• noun the act of dispensing (giving out in portions)
• noun an exemption from some rule or obligation