▪ I. disburse, v.
(dɪsˈbɜːs)
Also 6 -bourse, -bource, -bursse.
[orig. disbourse, a. OF. desbourser (13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), mod.F. débourser, in same senses, f. des-, dis- 4 + bourse purse. Afterwards assimilated to L. bursa, as if repr. a L. *disbursāre. Cf. deburse, dispurse.]
1. a. trans. To pay out or expend (money); to pay or defray (costs, expenses).
| 1530 Palsgr. 517/2, I have disboursed for hym above a hundred pounde. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. i. 38 Take the Chaine, and bid my wife Disburse the summe, on the receipt thereof. 1591 Horsey Trav. (Hakluyt Soc.) 220, I disburst to him and them 300 dollers. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. ii. vii. (1739) 42 Importation does bring in more profit than Exportation disburseth. 1701 De Foe Trueborn Eng. Introd. 33 Who Fifty Millions Sterling have disburs'd. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 16/2 Whatever contingent expenses you may find it necessary to disburse in Calcutta. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. V. 251 They had disbursed money largely, and had disbursed it with the certainty that they should never be re-imbursed unless the outlay proved beneficial to the public. |
† b. To defray (a charge). Obs.
| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 31 To disbource and pay al the costes and charges. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 30 Disbursing the charge both of the Beere, and the ingredients. 1611 Coryat Crudities 377 Rupertus Duke of Alemanny disbursed the greatest charge thereof. |
c. To pay for or on account of (anything). rare.
| 1860 Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 73 Commission on cash advanced to disburse the ship, 5 per cent. |
d. absol. To make disbursement. Also fig.
| 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 12 Each alike constraines The hunger-bitten Client to disburse. 1636 Davenant Wits iv. ii, Sir..you must disburse, For gold is a restorative. 1789 Loiterer 21 Mar. 6 Any intention to defraud, or any inability to disburse. 1920 E. Pound Umbra 111 Disburse Can she, and wake Such firm delights. |
† 2. fig. and transf. To spend, give out or away.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1203 And all my Fame that liues disbursed be To those that liue and thinke no shame of me. 1621 Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 52 In a whispering language, he disburs'd His various thoughts. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xix. [b] 126 He had rather disburse his life at the present. 1671 Grew Anat. Plants i. i. §40. (1682) 8 The said Sap being disbursed back into all the seminal Root. |
Hence disˈbursed ppl. a.; disˈbursing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1564 Golding Justine 35 (R.) He demanded to haue the disbursing of the mony himselfe. 1611 Cotgr., Desboursé, disbursed, laid out of a purse. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. i. 61 His incomes are great, his disbursings little. 1858 Merc. Marine Mag. V. 173 These are deposited..in charge of the..disbursing agent. |
▪ II. † disˈburse, n. Obs.
[f. prec. vb.: cf. OF. desbours (16th c. in Littré).]
= disbursement. to be in disburse, to be out of pocket.
| 1608 Machin Dumb Knight v. ii, Come, there is Some odd disburse, some bribe, some gratulance Which make you lock up leisure. 1682 J. Scarlett Exchanges 186 Lest on the one hand he be in disburse, on the other, in cash for his Principal. 1716 S. Sewall Diary 8 Feb. (1882) III. 73 [He] offers to be his Quota towards this Disburse. 1742 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. I. 288 The annual Rent..would abundantly pay the Publick for the first Disburses. 1782 J. Elphinston tr. Martial ii. lxiii. 117 Of wealth in love luxuriant the disburse! |