20091108Word of the Day

junli

abeyance

\uh-BAY-uhn(t)s\ , noun;
1.Suspension; temporary cessation.
名词 n.
1.中止;暂搁
2.【律】(所有权等的)归属待定

Quotes:
He was nineteen years old, and officially a medical student, though inevitably his studies were in abeyance for the duration of the war.
~Ruth Brandon, Surreal Lives: The Surrealists 1917-1945
Her plans fell into abeyance when she parted from Franz Josef and traveled for five years.
~Rebecca West, "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon", The Atlantic, January 1941

Origin:
Abeyance derives from Medieval French abeance, "expectation," from abeer, from a-, "to" (from Latin ad-) + baer, beer, "to gape (at)," from Late Latin batare, "to gape."