pending

[pen-ding]

preposition

while awaiting; until: pending his return.

in the period before the decision or conclusion of; during: pending the negotiations.

adjective

remaining undecided; awaiting decision or settlement; unfinished: pending business; pending questions; pending litigation.

about to take place; impending.

Origin of pending

1635–45; pend + -ing², on the model of French pendant (see pendent)

Related formsnon·pend·ing, adjectiveun·pend·ing, adjective

Can be confusedpending impending

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

British Dictionary definitions for unpending

pending

preposition

while waiting for or anticipating

adjective (postpositive)

not yet decided, confirmed, or finishedwhat are the matters pending?

imminentthese developments have been pending for some time

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

Word Origin and History for unpending

pending

prep.

1640s, "during, in the process of," preposition formed from root of French pendant "during," literally "hanging," present participle of pendere "to hang, to suspend" (see pendant). Meaning patterned on a secondary sense of Latin pendente "not decided," literally "hanging," in legal phrase pendente lite "while the suit is pending." Use of the present participle before nouns caused it to be regarded as a preposition. As an adjective from 1797.