abeyance

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)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 […]”

   “Note: Under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 all territorial claims are held under abeyance in the interest of international co-operation for scientific purposes.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Suspension; temporary suppression; dormant condition.

   “Without a plausible explanation for what might have provoked an ice age, the whole theory fell into abeyance.”

   “[...] 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.”

   “The palace had previously that the duke’s military appointments were in abeyance after he stepped down from public duties in 2019.”

   “Friday’s announcement that Andrew’s dukedom, other titles and his Order of the Garter knighthood would be put in abeyance with immediate effect – extant but inactive, much as his HRH title has been since the Virginia Giuffre scandal broke six years ago – may be seen by some within Buckingham Palace as a solution.”

3. (countable, uncountable)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.”