moratorium

- 7 dictionary results

mor⋅a⋅to⋅ri⋅um

[mawr-uh-tawr-ee-uh

m, -tohr-, mor-]

Use moratorium in a Sentence

–noun, plural -to⋅ri⋅a [-tawr-ee-uh, -tohr-]

, -to⋅ri⋅ums.

1.	a suspension of activity: a moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons.

2.	a legally authorized period to delay payment of money due or the performance of some other legal obligation, as in an emergency.

3.	an authorized period of delay or waiting.

Origin:
1870–75; < NL, LL morātōrium, n. use of neut. of morātōrius moratory

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mor·a·to·ri·um (môr'ə-tôr'ē-əm, -tōr'-, mŏr'-)

n. pl. mor·a·to·ri·ums or mor·a·to·ri·a (-tôr'ē-ə, -tōr'-)

Law
1. An authorization to a debtor, such as a bank or nation, permitting temporary suspension of payments.
2. An authorized period of delay in the performance of an obligation.
A suspension of an ongoing or planned activity: a moratorium on the deployment of a new weapon.

[From Late Latin morātōrium, neuter of morātōrius, delaying; see moratory.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Moratorium

Mor`a*to"ri*um\, n. [NL. See Moratory.] (Law) A period during which an obligor has a legal right to delay meeting an obligation, esp. such a period granted, as to a bank, by a moratory law.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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moratorium [(mawr-uh-tawr-ee-uhm)]

A period of delay agreed to by parties to a dispute or parties who are negotiating. A moratorium may also be an authorized delay in the repayment of a loan, especially by a nation (as in a moratorium on war debts).

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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moratorium

1875, originally a legal term for "authorization to a debtor to postpone payment," from neut. of L.L. moratorius "tending to delay," from L. morari "to delay," from mora "pause, delay," originally "standing there thinking." The word didn't come out of italics until 1914. General sense of "a postponement, deliberate temporary suspension" is first recorded 932.

Moratorium

1) A period of time in which there is a suspension of a specific activity until future events warrant a removal of the suspension or issues regarding the activity have been resolved.

2) In bankruptcy law, a legally binding halt of the right to collect debt.

Investopedia Commentary

1) For example, if a company is going through rough times it might have a moratorium on advertising spending. In other words, to cut costs, it won't spend any money on advertising.

2) Such action may be imposed by a government, or taken voluntarily by a private business, usually in times of economic crisis such as an earthquake or flood, in order to provide people with time to stabilize their finances before dealing with potential problems such as a mortgage default and foreclosure.

Main Entry: mor·a·to·ri·um
Pronunciation: "mor-&-'tor-E-&m
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -riums or -ria
Etymology: New Latin, from Late Latin, neuter of moratorius dilatory, from morari to delay, from mora delay
1 a : an authorized period of delay in the performance of an obligation (as the paying of a debt) b : a waiting period set by an authority
2 : a suspension of activity

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