postponement

[pohst-pohn-muhnt, pohs-]

noun

1. the act of putting something off to a later time; deferral.

   Taking your sick or injured pet to the veterinarian should be prompt, as any postponement can lead to ongoing medical issues.

2. the act of placing a thing below something else in importance or after something else in sequence (now used most often in grammar).

   Historically, inheritance laws tended toward a postponement of the claims of female kin to those of male kin.

   In English, the end position in a sentence is normally reserved for the key point, so postponement of an element is a way of emphasizing it.

Other Word Forms

• nonpostponement noun
• self-postponement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of postponement¹

postpone ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Example Sentences

He thanked the crowd for hanging with the festival’s postponement — “I know it wasn’t ideal,” he said — and for “rocking with us for 11 years” of Flog Gnaw.

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"The reading carries heightened importance following the postponement of October's personal consumption expenditures report, originally scheduled for 26 November, which removes a key datapoint from policymakers' assessment framework," wrote IG market analyst Fabien Yip.

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But these postponements mean that policymakers will not receive the latest government data on both fronts before their December 9-10 gathering.

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In July, the WBO had ordered negotiations for a mandatory defence against interim champion Joseph Parker of New Zealand, only for a back injury sustained by Usyk to force the postponement of the fight.

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Health issues, which led to a postponement of her December Las Vegas residency, prevented Parton from attending in person.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• adjournment 
• freeze 
• halt 
• pause 
• respite 
• stay 
• suspension