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abeyance - vocabulary

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abeyance - noun

A state of suspension or temporary inaction; the condition of being temporarily set aside or held in suspension, as in They held the program in abeyance. In law, a condition of undetermined ownership as when a property right has yet to be assigned.

And then she lived, with Mrs. Osmond, under the influence of a pleasant surprise; she was constantly expecting that Isabel would “look down” upon her and she as constantly saw this operation postponed. She asked herself when it would begin; not that she cared much; but she wondered what kept it in abeyance.

—Henry James The Portrait of a Lady (1908)

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