NOUN (3)

1. an exemption from some rule or obligation;

2. a share that has been dispensed or distributed;

3. the act of dispensing (giving out in portions);

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Dispensation \Dis`pen*sa"tion\, n. [F. dispensation, L.
   dispensatio.]
   1. 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.
      [1913 Webster]

            To respect the dispensations of Providence. --Burke.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. That which is dispensed, dealt out, or appointed; that
      which is enjoined or bestowed; especially (Theol.), A
      system of principles, promises, and rules ordained and
      administered; scheme; economy; as, the Patriarchal,
      Mosaic, and Christian dispensations.
      [1913 Webster]

            Neither are God's methods or intentions different in
            his dispensations to each private man. --Rogers.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. 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.).
      [1913 Webster]

            A dispensation was obtained to enable Dr. Barrow to
            marry.                                --Ward.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

dispensation
    n 1: an exemption from some rule or obligation
    2: a share that has been dispensed or distributed
    3: the act of dispensing (giving out in portions)