Adjacent Words

Abeyance definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ABEY'ANCE, n. pron. abayance. [Norm. abbaiaunce, or abaizance, in expectation; boyance, expectation. Qu. Fr. bayer, to gape, to look a long time with the mouth open; to stand looking in a silly manner. [See Bay]
In expectation or contemplation of law. The fee simple or inheritance of lands and tenements is in abeyance, when there is no person in being in whom it can vest; so that it is in a state of expectancy or waiting until a proper person shall appear. Thus if land is leased to a man for life, remainder to another for years, the remainder for years is in abeyance, till the death of the lessee, for life.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: temporary cessation or suspension [syn: abeyance, suspension]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Anglo-French, from Old French abaer to expect, await, literally, to gape, from a- + baer to gape, yawn — more at bay Date: 1640 1. a lapse in succession during which there is no person in whom a title is vested 2. temporary inactivity ; suspension • abeyant adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (usu. prec. by in, into) a state of temporary disuse or suspension. Derivatives: abeyant adj. Etymology: AF abeiance f. OF abeer f. à to + beer f. med.L batare gape

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Abeyance A*bey"ance, n. [OF. abeance expectation, longing; a (L. ad) + baer, beer, to gape, to look with open mouth, to expect, F. bayer, LL. badare to gape.] 1. (Law) Expectancy; condition of being undetermined. Note: When there is no person in existence in whom an inheritance (or a dignity) can vest, it is said to be in abeyance, that is, in expectation; the law considering it as always potentially existing, and ready to vest whenever a proper owner appears. --Blackstone. 2. Suspension; temporary suppression. Keeping the sympathies of love and admiration in a dormant state, or state of abeyance. --De Quincey.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If something is in abeyance, it is not operating or being used at the present time. (FORMAL) The Russian threat is, at the least, in abeyance... PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. (Law.) Expectation, prospect, expectancy, waiting, anticipation, calculation, contemplation. 2. Suspense, suspension, suspendedness, reservation, intermission, remission, dormancy, quiescence, suppression, sublation.

Moby Thesaurus

abandonment, abjuration, abjurement, apathy, break, caesura, catalepsy, catatonia, cease-fire, cessation, cold storage, day off, deadliness, deathliness, desistance, discontinuance, doldrums, dormancy, drop, entropy, forbearance, hesitation, holiday, indifference, indolence, inertia, inertness, interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermittence, interruption, interval, languor, lapse, latency, layoff, letup, lotus-eating, lull, nonexercise, passiveness, passivity, pause, quiescence, quiescency, recess, relinquishment, remission, renouncement, renunciation, resignation, respite, rest, stagnancy, stagnation, stand-down, stasis, stay, suspense, suspension, torpor, truce, vacation, vegetation, vis inertiae, waiver