c. 1400, dispensour (mid-12c. as a surname), "one who administers" (a household, etc.), "one in charge of the distribution of goods and services," from Anglo-French dispensour, Old French despenseor, from Latin dispensator, agent noun from dispensare "disburse, administer, distribute (by weight);" see dispense. Meaning "a container that dispenses in fixed measure" is from 1918.
