An archaic or obsolete spelling of 'dispense'; to distribute, give out, or administer.
From Old French dispenser, from Latin dispensare (dis- = away + pensare = to weigh). The modern spelling 'dispense' replaced this variant.
Medieval scribes would have written 'dispence' for what we now spell 'dispense'—another example of how spelling reforms have standardized English since the 18th century.
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