Abeyance

Definition: Abeyance

Abeyance

Noun

1. Temporary cessation or suspension.

Date "abeyance" was first used: 1528. (references)

Etymology: Abeyance \A*bey"ance\, noun. [Old French expression abeance expectation, longing; (L. ad) baer, beer, to gape, to look with open mouth, to expect, French bayer, Late Latin expression badare to gape.]. (Websters 1913)

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Abeyance really means something gaped after (French, bayer, to gape). The allusion is to men standing with their mouths open, in expectation of some sight about to appear. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Abeyance (O. Fr. abeance, "gaping"), a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. In law, the term abeyance can only be applied to such future estates as have not yet vested or possibly may not vest. For example, an estate is granted to A for life, with remainder to the heir of B, the latter being alive; the remainder is then said to be in abeyance, for until the death of B it is uncertain who his heir is. Similarly the freehold of a benefice, on the death of the incumbent, is said to be in abeyance until the next incumbent takes possession.

The most common use of the term is in the case of English peerage dignities. Most such peerages pass to heirs-male. But the ancient baronies by writ, and possibly some very old earldoms, pass instead to heirs-general. If such a peerage is held by a man whose heir-at-law is neither a male, nor a woman who is an only child, on his death it goes into abeyance between two or more sisters or their heirs, and is held by no one till the abeyance is terminated. If eventually only one person represents the claims of all the sisters, he or she can claim the termination of the abeyance as a matter of right.

It is entirely possible for a peerage to remain in abeyence for centuries. For example, the baronies of Burgh and Strabolgi, which had a common descent, were in abeyance for 547 years, between 1369 and 1916.

The crown can also call the peerage out of abeyance at any moment, on petition, in favour of any one of the sisters or their heirs between whom it is in abeyance.

The question whether ancient earldoms created in favour of a man and his heirs go into abeyance like baronies by writ has been raised by the claim to the earldom of Norfolk created in 1312, discussed before the Committee for Privileges in 1906.

It is common, but incorrect, to speak of peerage dignities which are dormant (i.e. unclaimed) as being in abeyance.

Adapted from an old 1911 Encyclopedia

Synonym: Abeyance

Synonym: suspension (n). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Cessation	Intermission, remission; suspense, suspension; interruption; stop; stopping; Verb: closure, stoppage, halt; arrival. pause, rest, lull, respite, truce, drop; interregnum, abeyance; cloture.
Expectation	Suspense, waiting, abeyance; curiosity; anxious expectation, ardent expectation, eager expectation, breathless expectation, sanguine expectation; torment of Tantalus.
Inexistence	Noun: inexistence; nonexistence, nonsubsistence; nonentity, nil; negativeness; Adjective: nullity; nihility, nihilism; tabula rasa, blank; abeyance; absence; no such thing; nonbeing, nothingness, oblivion.
Lateness	Adjective: late, tardy, slow, behindhand, serotine, belated, postliminious, posthumous, backward, unpunctual, untimely; delayed, postponed; dilatory; (slow); delayed; Verb: in abeyance.
Physical Inertness	Adverb: inactively; Adjective: in suspense, in abeyance.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Abeyance

English words defined with "abeyance": Abeyancy ♦ deferral ♦ in abeyance ♦ recess. (references)

Etymologies containing "abeyance": Abeyancy. (references)

Domain	Title
Books	Death in Abeyance (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Civil Liberties	Yemen	Ba Sharahil's case was ongoing at year's end, but in abeyance pending his recovery from illness. (references)
Economic History	Pakistan	Plans for building the controversial 3,600-MW Kalabagh Hydropower Project on the River Indus downstream of the Tarbela Dam are held in abeyance. (references)
	Sudan	These events, and other longstanding grievances, in part led to a resumption of the civil war that was held in abeyance since 1972, and the war continues until today. (references)
Human Rights	Ukraine	There is a witness protection law, but it is in abeyance because of lack of funding. (references)
Political Economy	Kenya	These appointments were welcomed by donor countries and resulted in the disbursement of some donor and IFI funds previously held in abeyance. (references)
Worker Rights	Ukraine	A witness protection law exists, but is in abeyance because of lack of funding. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
Ulysses S. Grant	1869-1877	Whilst the question of specie payments is in abeyance the prudent business man is careful about contracting debts payable in the distant future.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Abeyance" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Abeyance" is used about 87 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	87	35,390

Expressions using "abeyance": be in abeyance ♦ fall into abeyance ♦ go into abeyance ♦ hold smth. in abeyance ♦ in abeyance ♦ inheritance in abeyance ♦ into abeyance. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "abeyance"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		pezullim (arrest, cancel, cancellation, hold, layoff, reversal, stay, suspense, suspension), gjendje e pritjes. (various references)

Arabic		‏تعليق (attachment, comment, commentary, gloss, quote, remark, stay, suspense, suspension, time out). (various references)

Bulgarian		суспендиране (suspension), временно отменяне, временно бездействие, временно прекратяване, неизвестност (mystery, obscurity), безстопанственост, изчакване (fencing). (various references)

Chinese		搁置. (various references)

Czech		suspenze (suspension). (various references)

Danish		udsætte (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance, postpone, procrastinate). (various references)

Dutch		schorsing (interruption, stay, suspension, suspensive action, temporary expulsion), opschorting (adjournment, delay, suspension). (various references)

Esperanto		suspendita (in abeyance), prokrastita (in abeyance), prokrasti (delay, hold in abeyance, postpone, procrastinate, put off), ne plu paroli pri (leave in abeyance), fariĝi ekskutima (fall into abeyance). (various references)

Faeroese		drála (adjourn, delay, hesitate, hold in abeyance, postpone), bíða við (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance, postpone). (various references)

Farsi		وقفه (Break, Caesura, Cease, Chasm, Deadlock, Gap, Hiatus, Interval, Jib, Paralysis, Pause, Standstill, Station, Stick, Suspension), تعلیق (Hang, Precipitant, Suspension), بی تکلیفی (Deadlock, Disjoin, Suspension, Unconventionality). (various references)

Finnish		lykkäys (postponement, respite, suspension), keskeytys (abort, break, discontinuity, interrupt, interruption, interval, pause, suspension, trap), erottaminen virasta määräajaksi (suspension). (various references)

French		vacance. (various references)

German		Unentschiedenheit (indecision, irresoluteness, irresolution), Aufschub (adjournment, adjurnment, deferment, delay, extension, postponement, respite, suspension, suspensive action). (various references)

Greek		εκκρεμότητα (held over, in abeyance, suspense), αναβολή (adjournment, deferment, delay, postponement, procrastination, prorogation, protraction, respite). (various references)

Hebrew		�"ש�"י�" (delay, dilatoriness, lagging, postponement, procrastination). (various references)

Hungarian		hatályon kívül helyezve (in abeyance), felfüggesztve (in abeyance). (various references)

Indonesian		penundaan (adjournment, cessation, interlude, interregnum, pause, postponement). (various references)

Italian		sospensione (adjournment, cancellation, freezing, hesitation, lay off, stay, suspend, suspension, temporary expulsion). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		停� " (deadlock, set-back, stalemate, standstill), 停止 (ban, deadlock, interruption, stalemate, standstill, stoppage, suspension), 中絶 (abortion, discontinuance, interruption, suspension). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		ていと�" (deadlock, set-back, stalemate, standstill), ていし (adherent, apprentice, ban, cessation, deadlock, disciple, exhibition, follower, interruption, ladder, low-interest funds, pupil, stairs, stalemate, standstill, stoppage, suspension, teacher's student-helper, young person), ちゅうぜつ (abortion, discontinuance, interruption, suspension). (various references)

Manx		ny lhie (in abeyance, proneness), faagit rish tammylt (in abeyance), currit ry-lhiattee (in abeyance). (various references)

Papiamen		aplasá (adjourn, delay, hold in abeyance, postpone). (various references)

Pig Latin		abeyanceay.(various references)

Polish		przesuwać, odkładać. (various references)

Portuguese		suspensão (adjournment, arrest, discontinuance, hanging, inhibitory, intermission, interruption, mounting, pause, plane, recess, rubber mounting, springing, stay, stop, suspense, suspension, uncertainty). (various references)

Romanian		aşteptare (anticipation, biding, expectancy, expectation, hopes, wait, waiting), suspendare (adjournment, arrest, hanging, stay, stop, suspense, suspension). (various references)

Russian		состояние неизвестности, временное прекращение, отсутствие владельца. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		stanje neizvesnosti, privremena neaktivnost. (various references)

Spanish		suspensión (adjournment, cessation, recess, reprieve, springing, stay, stopping, suspend, suspension). (various references)

Swedish		anstånd (adjournment, deferment, delay, grace, indulgence, suspension). (various references)

Turkish		askıda olma, sürünceme. (various references)

Ukranian		стан непевності, тимчасове бездіяльність. (various references)

Vietnamese		tình trạng tạm thời vô chủ tình trạng trống, sự hoãn lại, sự đọng lại sự đình chỉ. (various references)

Welsh		dirymedd dros dro. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Old French	900-1400	abeance. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "abeyance": abeyances. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Abeyance" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Abalance, abayance, abberance, abeyabce, Abhyankar, Alexanco, Byzance, obeyance. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "abeyance" (pronounced ubā"uns)
4	-ā" u n s	conveyance.
3	-u n s	abhorrence, absence, abstinence, abundance, acceptance, accordance, acquaintance, acquiescence, adherence, admirations, admittance, adolescence, affluence, allegiance, alliance, allowance, ambiance, ambience, ambivalence, ambulance, annoyance, appearance, appliance, arrogance, ascendance, assistance, assurance, attendance, audience, avoidance, balance, belligerence, beneficence, benevolence, bioscience, brilliance, cadence, capacitance, chrominance, circumference, clairvoyance, Clarence, clearance, coexistence, cognizance, coherence, coincidence, coinsurance, comeuppance, competence, compliance, concurrence, condolence, conference, confidence, confluence, conformance, congruence, connivance, conscience, consequence, consistence, continuance, contrivance, convalescence, convenience, convergence, correspondence, countenance, counterbalance, counterintelligence, credence, dalliance, decadence, Defeasance, deference, defiance, deliverance, dependence, deterrence, deviance, difference, diligence, disallowance, disappearance, discontinuance, disobedience, dissidence, dissonance, distance, disturbance, divergence, dominance, ebullience, elegance, eloquence, emergence, eminence, endurance, entrance, equivalence, essence, evanescence, evidence, excellence, existence, expedience, experience, extravagance, exuberance, flamboyance, Florence, forbearance, fragrance, furtherance, governance, grievance, guidance, hindrance, ignorance, imbalance, immanence, imminence, impatience, impedance, importance, impotence, imprudence, inadvertence, incidence, incoherence, incompetence, incontinence, inconvenience, independence, indifference, inductance, indulgence, inexperience, inference, influence, inheritance, innocence, insignificance, insistence, insolence, instance, insurance, intelligence, interdependence, interference, intolerance, intransigence, invariance, irrelevance, irreverence, issuance, jurisprudence, licence, license, luminance, luminescence, maintenance, malfeasance, negligence, neuroscience, noncompliance, noninterference, nonviolence, nuisance, obedience, observance, obsolescence, occurrence, omnipotence, omnipresence, opulence, ordinance, Ordnance, overabundance, overconfidence, overdependence, overreliance, parlance, patience, penance, performance, permanence, persecutions, perseverance, persistence, pestilence, petulance, phosphorescence, pittance, precedence, predominance, preeminence, preference, preponderance, prescience, presence, prevalence, prominence, protuberance, provenance, Providence, province, prudence, pseudoscience, quintessence, radiance, reappearance, reassurance, recalcitrance, recognizance, reconnaissance, recurrence, reemergence, reference, reinspections, reinsurance, relevance, reliance, reluctance, remembrance, reminiscence, remittance, repentance, resemblance, residence, resilience, resistance, resonance, resurgence, reticence, reverence, riddance, science, semblance, senescence, sentence, sequence, severance, significance, silence, submergence, subservience, subsidence, subsistence, substance, surveillance, sustenance, teleconference, temperance, tolerance, transcendence, transference, transience, turbulence, unbalance, utterance, Valence, variance, vehemence, vengeance, videoconference, vigilance, violence, virulence.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-b-c-e-e-n-y"
	-4 letters: abye, acne, bane, bean, been, bene, cane, cyan, eyen, eyne, nabe, yean.
	-5 letters: aba, aby, ace, ana, ane, any, aye, baa, ban, bay, bee, ben, bey, bye, cab, can, cay, cee, eye, nab, nae, nay, neb, nee, yea, yen.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-b-c-e-e-n-y"
	+1 letter: abeyances.
	+2 letters: abeyancies.
	+4 letters: ineffaceably.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.