abeyance

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: a=bey=ance

CIDE DICTIONARY

abeyance, 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.].

•  Expectancy; condition of being undetermined.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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.  [1913 Webster]
•  Suspension; temporary suppression.  [1913 Webster]

  "Keeping the sympathies of love and admiration in a dormant state, or state of abeyance."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

abeyance, n. (usu. prec. by in, into) a state of temporary disuse or suspension.

Derivative

abeyant adj.

Etymology

AF abeiance f. OF abeer f. {agrave} to + beer f. med.L batare gape

THESAURUS

abeyance

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

ROGET THESAURUS

abeyance

Inexistence

N inexistence, nonexistence, nonsubsistence, nonentity, nil, negativeness, nullity, nihility, nihilism, tabula rasa, blank, abeyance, absence, no such thing, nonbeing, nothingness, oblivion, annihilation, extinction, extinguishment, extirpation, Nirvana, obliteration, inexistent, nonexistent, negative, blank, missing, omitted, absent, insubstantial, shadowy, spectral, visionary, unreal, potential, virtual, baseless, in nubibus, unsubstantial, vain, unborn, uncreated, unbegotten, unconceived, unproduced, unmade, perished, annihilated extinct, exhausted, gone, lost, vanished, departed, gone with the wind, defunct, fabulous, ideal, supposititious &c, negatively, virtually, non ens.

Cessation

N cessation, discontinuance, desistance, desinence, intermission, remission, suspense, suspension, interruption, stop, stopping, closure, stoppage, halt, arrival, pause, rest, lull, respite, truce, drop, interregnum, abeyance, cloture, dead stop, dead stand, dead lock, finis, cerrado, blowout, burnout, meltdown, disintegration, comma, colon, semicolon, period, full stop, end, death, I pause for a reply.

Expectation

N expectation, expectance, expectancy, anticipation, reckoning, calculation, foresight, contemplation, prospection, lookout, prospect, perspective, horizon, vista, destiny, suspense, waiting, abeyance, curiosity, anxious expectation, ardent expectation, eager expectation, breathless expectation, sanguine expectation, torment of Tantalus, hope, trust, auspices, assurance, confidence, presumption, reliance, expectant, expecting, in expectation, on the watch, open-eyed, open-mouthed, in wide-eyed anticipation, agape, gaping, all agog, on tenterhooks, on tiptoe, on the tiptoe of expectation, aux aguets, ready, curious, looking forward to, expected, long expected, foreseen, in prospect, prospective, in one's eye, in one's view, in the horizon, on the horizon, just over the horizon, just around the corner, around the corner, impending, on the watch, with breathless expectation, with bated breath, with rapt anticipation, arrectis auribus, we shall see, nous verrons, expectation whirls me round, the light at the end of the tunnel.