abeyance

[ uh-bey-uhns ]

/ əˈbeɪ əns /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abeyance ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

temporary inactivity, cessation, or suspension: Let's hold that problem in abeyance for a while.

Law. a state or condition of real property in which title is not as yet vested in a known titleholder: an estate in abeyance.

Nearby words

aberystwyth, abessive, abet, abetalipoproteinemia, abettor, abeyance, abeyant, abfarad, abg, abgatha, abh

Origin of abeyance

1520–30; < Anglo-French; Old French abeance aspiration, literally, a gaping at or toward. See a-⁵, bay², -ance

SYNONYMS FOR abeyance

1 remission, deferral.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abeyance ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for abeyance

The court will then hold the eleven felony allocutions in abeyance.
Inside the ‘PayPal 14’ Trial|Alexa O'Brien|December 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Don Joaquin was only asserting his dignity, that had lain a little in abeyance while he was listening to her explanations.
Mariquita|John Ayscough
The first represents Blake in a rare mood, his mysticism in abeyance, and his temper one of aesthetic abandon.
William Blake|Irene Langridge
For a number of years the great project was held in abeyance by a series of unforeseen events.
Pilots of the Republic|Archer Butler Hulbert

The matter, however, was not suffered to fall altogether into abeyance.
The English Church in the Eighteenth Century|Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton
The narrative in Joshua implies that the custom was introduced by him, not that it had merely been in abeyance in the Wilderness.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4|Various

British Dictionary definitions for abeyance

abeyance

/ (əˈbeɪəns) /

noun

(usually preceded by in or into) a state of being suspended or put aside temporarily

(usually preceded by in) law an indeterminate state of ownership, as when the person entitled to an estate has not been ascertained

Derived Forms

abeyant, adjective

Word Origin for abeyance

C16-17: from Anglo-French, from Old French abeance expectation, literally a gaping after, a reaching towards

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012