abeyance
/əˈbeɪ.ən(t)s/ noun
Forms abeyances
- noun (law) Expectancy; a condition when an ownership of real property is undetermined; lapse in succession of ownership of estate, or title. “The proceeds of the estate shall be held in abeyance in an escrow account until the minor reaches age twenty-one.”
- noun Suspension; temporary suppression; dormant condition.
- noun Expectancy of a noble or armigeral title, its right in existence but its exercise suspended. “The broad pennant of a commodore first class has been in abeyance since 1958, together with the rank.”
Synonyms
Etymology
First attested in 1528. From Anglo-Norman abeiance (“legal expectation”), from Old French abeance (“desire”) from abeër (“to gape at, aspire after”), abaer, abair (“to desire”), from a (“to”) + baër (“to gape”), bair (“yawn”), from Medieval Latin batō (“to yawn”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Expectancy; condition of being undetermined.
- noun Suspension; temporary suppression.
Etymology [OF. abeance expectation, longing; a (L. ad) + baer, beer, to gape, to look with open mouth, to expect, F. bayer, LL. badare to gape.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “abeyance”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details