Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Abeyance

Abeyance ({not transcribed}) , noun

[Old French abeance expectation, longing; a (Latin ad) + baer, beer, to gape, to look with open mouth, to expect, French bayer, Late Latin badare to gape.]

1.
(Law) Expectancy; condition of being undetermined.

When there is no person in existence in whom an inheritance (or a dignity) can vest, it is said to be in abeyance, that is, in expectation; the law considering it as always potentially existing, and ready to vest whenever a proper owner appears.

2.
Suspension; temporary suppression.
Keeping the sympathies of love and admiration in a dormant state, or state of abeyance. — De Quincey