abeyant

English

WOTD – 12 July 2019

Etymology

Back-formation from abeyance + -ant.[1]

Pronunciation

Adjective

abeyant (comparative more abeyant, superlative most abeyant)

  1. Being in a state of abeyance; suspended. [from mid 19th c.][2]
    Synonyms: dormant, inactive, latent; see also Thesaurus:inactive
    • 1835, “Slane Peerage Case”, in New Reports of Cases Heard in the House of Lords, on Appeals and Writs of Error; and Decided during the Session 1836, volume X, London: Saunders and Benning, law booksellers, (successors to J. Butterworth and Son,) [], published 1838, OCLC 857923669, page 87:
      This statute, and that in favour of the heirs general before mentioned, would of themselves, it is submitted, establish that the barony of Slane, was neither a peerage in fee nor a palatine honor. Had it been the former, it would have become abeyant between the heirs general: had it been the latter, it would have been annihilated by the non-possession of the lands.
    • 2005, Chester A[rthur] Crocker; Fen Osler Hampson; Pamela R. Aall, “Introduction: Mapping the Nettle Field”, in Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall, editors, Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict, Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, →ISBN, page 11:
      In abeyant intractable conflicts violence is suspended, or "frozen" (i.e., they have gone into remission), usually because a third party is willing and able to guarantee the terms of a negotiated cease-fire—a cease-fire that may also include the broad outlines of a political settlement.
    • 2013, William Nester, “Total War”, in The Age of Lincoln and the Art of American Power, 1848–1876, Lincoln, Neb.: Potomac Books, University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, part 2 (Civil War, 1861–1865), page 202:
      So even where extraordinary circumstances render civilian courts abeyant, the civilian law must be reintroduced as soon as the emergency ends.
    • 2013 October, Jonathan L. Howard, “In which there is a Battle and Cabal Makes It Quick”, in Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, →ISBN, page 200:
      Having placed an abeyant death sentence on Corde's head, he turned his attention to Bose, who, for his part, looked vapid and without a shred of malice or machinatory instinct about him, a soft toy in the great department store of life.

Translations

References

  1. abeyant, adj.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2011; abeyant” (US) / “abeyant” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.
  2. “abeyant” in Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, volume I, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2002, →ISBN, page 4.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.