moratorium
See also: Moratorium and moratórium
English
WOTD – 12 April 2010, 12 April 2011
Etymology
New Latin from Late Latin morātōrium, noun use of the neuter of morātōrius (“moratory, delaying”), from Latin moror (“I delay”), from mora (“delay”), from Proto-Indo-European *mere (“to delay, hinder”). See also moratory.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌmɒ.ɹəˈtɔː.ɹɪəm/, /ˌmɔː.ɹəˈtɔː.ɹɪəm/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌmɔ.ɹəˈtɔ.ɹi.əm/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
moratorium (plural moratoriums or moratoria)
- (law) An authorization to a debtor, permitting temporary suspension of payments. [from 19th c.]
- A suspension of an ongoing activity. [from 20th c.]
- Canada may put a moratorium on cloning for research.
- 1990, Gerhard Falk, Murder, an Analysis of its Forms, Conditions, and Causes, McFarland:
- It so happened that at that time the moratorium on the death penalty caused by the Supreme Court decision in the Furman case was still in effect.
- 2023 March 22, “Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter”, in Future of Life Institute[1]:
- If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium.
Synonyms
- (suspension of an ongoing activity): hiatus, interruption, recess; see also Thesaurus:pause
Related terms
Translations
authorization permitting temporary suspension of payments
|
suspension of an ongoing activity
|
Further reading
- Moratorium on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Moratorium in the 1905 edition of the New International Encyclopedia.
Danish
Alternative forms
Noun
moratorium n (singular definite moratoriet, plural indefinite moratorier)
Declension
| neuter gender |
singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | moratorium | moratoriet | moratorier | moratorierne |
| genitive | moratoriums | moratoriets | moratoriers | moratoriernes |
Synonyms
- (suspension of payments): henstand
- (suspension of an ongoing activity): stop
References
French
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
moratorium m (plural moratoriums)
Further reading
- “moratorium”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
moratorium n (definite singular moratoriet, indefinite plural moratorier, definite plural moratoria or moratoriene)
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
moratorium n (definite singular moratoriet, indefinite plural moratorium, definite plural moratoria)
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mɔ.raˈtɔ.rjum/
Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -ɔrjum
- Syllabification: mo‧ra‧to‧rium
Noun
moratorium n
Declension
Declension of moratorium
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | moratorium | moratoria |
| genitive | moratorium | moratoriów |
| dative | moratorium | moratoriom |
| accusative | moratorium | moratoria |
| instrumental | moratorium | moratoriami |
| locative | moratorium | moratoriach |
| vocative | moratorium | moratoria |
Further reading
- moratorium in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- moratorium in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Swedish
Noun
moratorium n
Declension
| nominative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | indefinite | moratorium | moratoriums |
| definite | moratoriet | moratoriets | |
| plural | indefinite | moratorier | moratoriers |
| definite | moratorierna | moratoriernas |