abeyance


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a·bey·ance

 (ə-bā′əns)
n.
1. The condition of being temporarily set aside; suspension: held the plan in abeyance.
2. Law A condition of undetermined ownership, as of an interest in an estate that has not yet vested.

[Anglo-Norman, variant of Old French abeance, desire, from abaer, to gape at : a-, at (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + baer, to gape; see bay2.]

a·bey′ant adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

abeyance

(əˈbeɪəns) or

abeyancy

n
1. (usually preceded by: in or into) a state of being suspended or put aside temporarily
2. (Law) (usually preceded by in) law an indeterminate state of ownership, as when the person entitled to an estate has not been ascertained
[C16-17: from Anglo-French, from Old French abeance expectation, literally a gaping after, a reaching towards]
aˈbeyant adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

a•bey•ance

(əˈbeɪ əns)

n.
1. temporary inactivity, cessation, or suspension: to hold a question in abeyance.
2. Law. the state of property whose title has not been vested in a known titleholder: an estate in abeyance.
[1520–30; < Anglo-French; Old French abeance aspiration, literally, a gaping at or toward. See a-5, bay2, -ance]
a•bey′ant, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.abeyance - temporary cessation or suspensionabeyance - temporary cessation or suspension  
inaction, inactiveness, inactivity - the state of being inactive
cold storage - in a state of abeyance or postponement
deferral, recess - a state of abeyance or suspended business
moratorium - suspension of an ongoing activity
standdown, stand-down - a suspension and relaxation from an alert state or a state of readiness
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

abeyance

noun
in abeyance shelved, pending, on ice (informal), in cold storage (informal), hanging fire, suspended The matter was left in abeyance until the next meeting.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

abeyance

noun
The condition of being temporarily inactive:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
تَعْلِيقْ، مُعَلَّقْ
nerozhodnutý
stillet i bero
jäädytyslepääminenlykkäys
ófrágenginn
neišspręstanežinioje
neatrisinātsneizšķirts
askıdakullanmama

abeyance

[əˈbeɪəns] N to be in abeyanceestar en desuso
to fall into abeyancecaer en desuso
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

abeyance

[əˈbeɪəns] n
in abeyance [matter] → en suspens; [threat] → en suspens; [law] → en désuétude
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

abeyance

n no pl to be in abeyance (law, rule, issue)ruhen; (custom, office)nicht mehr ausgeübt werden; to fall into abeyanceaußer Gebrauch kommen, nicht mehr wirksam sein; to hold/leave something in abeyanceetw ruhen lassen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

abeyance

[əˈbeɪəns] n (frm) to be in abeyance (law, custom) → essere in disuso; (matter, plan) → essere in sospeso
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

abeyance

(əˈbeiəns) : in abeyance
left undecided usually for a short time. The matter was left in abeyance.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
'Ivanhoe' I had known before, and the 'Bride of Lammermoor' and 'Woodstock', but the rest had remained in that sort of abeyance which is often the fate of books people expect to read as a matter of course, and come very near not reading at all, or read only very late.
Some minutes before midday the first driblets of metal began to flow; the reservoirs filled little by little; and, by the time that the whole melting was completely accomplished, it was kept in abeyance for a few minutes in order to facilitate the separation of foreign substances.
His natural inclination to blame, hitherto kept entirely in abeyance toward his father by the predisposition to think him always right, simply on the ground that he was Tom Tulliver's father, was turned into this new channel by his mother's plaints; and with his indignation against Wakem there began to mingle some indignation of another sort.
The beginning of November found its date still in abeyance, though he asked her at the most tempting times.
Jaggers being highly dictatorial, and Wemmick obstinately justifying himself whenever there was the smallest point in abeyance for a moment.
John, meanwhile, sat collapsed, his chin sunk upon his chest, his mind in abeyance. The smell of the cab was still faintly present to his senses, and a certain leaden chill about his feet, all else had disappeared in one vast oppression of calamity and physical faintness.
But every other feeling as it rushed upon his was thrown into abeyance by pity, deep respectful pity, for the man who sat before him--already so bruised, going forth with sad blind resignedness to an unreal sorrow, while a real one was close upon him, too far beyond the range of common trial for him ever to have feared it.
Brooke the hereditary strain of Puritan energy was clearly in abeyance; but in his niece Dorothea it glowed alike through faults and virtues, turning sometimes into impatience of her uncle's talk or his way of "letting things be" on his estate, and making her long all the more for the time when she would be of age and have some command of money for generous schemes.
It wouldn't he respectable.' Animated by this reflection, he stumps faster, and looks a long way before him, as a man with an ambitious project in abeyance often will do.
Nowadays the military profession is in abeyance and the magisterial robe is the badge of honor.
"Our judgment must still be in abeyance," said Professor Challenger, with a huge slab of whitish-colored flesh across his knee.
While the succession was yet in abeyance, he assisted his mother in the conduct of a snug tobacco business round the corner of Horsemonger Lane (his father being a non-resident turnkey), which could usually command a neat connection within the College walls.