Abeyance
/əˈbeɪ.əns/noun
A temporary state of suspension or inactivity.
Did you know?Abeyance entered English through Anglo-French legal language, where it described rights or claims that were waiting in a kind of suspended, unclaimed state.
Etymological Timeline
Old French
OF
abeance
“expectation or a state of awaiting”
Anglo-French
AF
abeiance
“a legal state of expectancy or suspension”
14th Century
English
abeyance
“a condition of being in waiting or suspense, especially in law”
Modern English
English
abeyance
“temporary inactivity or suspension”