Hypertext Webster Gateway: "abeyance"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
abeyance
n : temporary cessation or suspension [syn: {suspension}]
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