Home › Words › D › dispenddispenddispend means to spend or expend.EtymologyFrom Old French despendre ( > French dépendre), from Latin dispendere.verbTo spend or expend.e.g.“Those Roman knights were so called, if they could dispend per annum so much.” — 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, sectionTo waste or squander.To distribute or dispense.Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.despend 86% match — To spend; to squander. vs dispend →bespend 85% match — To expend; bestow; employ. vs dispend →dispendious 75% match — expensive, costly vs dispend →expended 71% match — Spent; used up; exhausted. vs dispend →forspend 71% match — To spend up; spend completely; exhaust, as by overexertion. vs dispend →dispense 71% match — To issue, distribute, or give out. vs dispend →spendy 69% match — Expensive, costly. vs dispend →expenditure 65% match — Act of expending or paying out. vs dispend →