Permission or exemption from a rule or requirement; or the distribution and management of something.
From Latin 'dispensare' (to distribute or weigh out), from 'dis-' (apart) and 'pensare' (to weigh or pay). Religious meaning developed in medieval times for exemptions from church rules.
A papal dispensation is an actual thing—the Catholic Church can grant permission to break its own rules in specific cases, like allowing someone to marry a close relative or marry across certain restrictions. It shows how institutions built in flexibility from the start.
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