\Spen"cer\, n. [OF. despensier. See {Spence}, and cf.
{Dispenser}.]
One who has the care of the spence, or buttery. [Obs.]
--Promptorium Parvulorum.

\Spen"cer\, n. [From the third Earl Spencer, who first
wore it, or brought it into fashion.]
A short jacket worn by men and by women. --Ld. Lutton.

\Spen"cer\, n. (Naut.)
A fore-and-aft sail, abaft the foremast or the mainmast,
hoisted upon a small supplementary mast and set with a gaff
and no boom; a trysail carried at the foremast or mainmast;
-- named after its inventor, Knight Spencer, of England
[1802].
{Spencer mast}, a small mast just abaft the foremast or
   mainmast, for hoisting the spencer. --R. H. Dana, Jr.