1. Temporary inactivity; suspension.
2. Property. A lapse in suc-cession during which no person is vested with title. — abeyant, adj.
“Abeyance, from the French bayer, to expect, is that which is in expectation, remembrance, and intendment of law. By a principle of law, in every land there is a fee simple in somebody, or else it is in abeyance; that is, though for the present it be in no man, yet it is in expectancy belonging to him that is next to enjoy the land.” 1 Richard Burn, A New Law Dictionary 4 (1792).
