Word.ws English Dictionary

abeyance

/əˈbeɪ.ən(t)s/

abeyance noun: expectancy; a condition when an ownership of real property is undetermined; lapse in succession of ownership of estate, or title.

Noun

abeyance (countable and uncountable, plural abeyances)

  1. Expectancy; a condition when an ownership of real property is undetermined; lapse in succession of ownership of estate, or title.
    • The proceeds of the estate shall be held in abeyance in an escrow account until the minor reaches age twenty-one.
    • Yet sometimes the fee may be in abeyance, that is (as the word signifies) in expectation, remembrance, and contemplation in law; there being no person in esse, in whom it can vest and abide […]1765, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England
  2. Suspension; temporary suppression; dormant condition.
    • Without a plausible explanation for what might have provoked an ice age, the whole theory fell into abeyance.2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 376
    • [...] Prosser was instrumental in the decision in 2010 to recommence publication of an annual health and safety report, following a period when it had fallen into abeyance.2020 July 29, Ian Prosser discusses with Paul Stephen, “Rail needs robust and strategic plans”, in Rail, page 40
  3. Expectancy of a noble or armigeral title, its right in existence but its exercise suspended.
    • The broad pennant of a commodore first class has been in abeyance since 1958, together with the rank.

abeyance meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada

abeyance in Tamil

கொஞ்சகாலம் வரை நிறைவேறாமை, தற்காலிகமாக நிறுத்தி வைத்தல்

abeyance in Bengali

সাময়িকভাবে স্থগিত রাখা

abeyance in Malayalam

തൽക്കാലം നിറുത്തിവയ്‌ക്കൽ, താല്‌ക്കാലികമായ അനിശ്ചിതനില, സംശയസ്ഥിതി, ചാഞ്ചല്യം, മാറ്റിവെക്കൽ

abeyance in Kannada

ತಡೆಹಿಡಿಕೆ, ಹಿಂದಿಡುವಿಕೆ, ತಡೆಹಿಡಿಯುವುದು, ಅಡ್ಡಿ, ತಡೆಹಿಡಿದ ಸ್ಥಿತಿ, ನಿಲುಕಡೆ

Examples of abeyance in a sentence

  • Note: Under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 all territorial claims are held under abeyance in the interest of international co-operation for scientific purposes.1985 [1967], John Bartholomew & Son Limited, “Antarctica”, in The Times Atlas of the World, 7th comprehensive edition, Times Books Limited...
  • The palace had previously that the duke’s military appointments were in abeyance after he stepped down from public duties in 2019.2022 January 13, Ben Quinn, “Queen strips Prince Andrew of military roles and royal patronages”, in The Guardian:

Forms of abeyance

pluralabeyances

Origin of abeyance

First attested in 1528. From Anglo-Norman abeiance (“legal expectation”), from Old French abeance (“desire”) from abeër (“to gape at, aspire after”), abaer, abair (“to desire”), from a (“to”) + baër (“to gape”), bair (“yawn”), from Medieval Latin batō (“to yawn”).

Words formed from abeyance

Questions about abeyance

What does abeyance mean?
Abeyance means expectancy; a condition when an ownership of real property is undetermined; lapse in succession of ownership of estate, or title.
What is abeyance in Tamil?
Abeyance in Tamil is கொஞ்சகாலம் வரை நிறைவேறாமை, தற்காலிகமாக நிறுத்தி வைத்தல். See Abeyance meaning in Tamil.
How do you use abeyance in a sentence?
Note: Under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 all territorial claims are held under abeyance in the interest of international co-operation for scientific purposes.
What part of speech is abeyance?
Abeyance is a noun.
How do you pronounce abeyance?
Abeyance is pronounced /əˈbeɪ.ən(t)s/.
What is the plural of abeyance?
The plural of abeyance is abeyances.

Words near abeyance in the dictionary

  1. abettors
  2. abevacuation
  3. abevacuations
  4. abexinostat
  5. abey
  6. abeyance
  7. abeyances
  8. abeyancies
  9. abeyancy
  10. abeyant
  11. Abeyta

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: abeyance (page history and authors); abeyance (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abeyance (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abeyance (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abeyance (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-ca-abeyance.ogg.

Cite this entry: “abeyance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/abeyance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.