moratorium
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GC: n

S: http://unctad.org/en/docs/ciiem1d3_en.pdf (last access: 25 April 2013); http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/united-nations-general-assembly-resolutions-calling-for-a-moratorium-on-the-use-of-the-death-penalty (last access: 2 September 2014).

N: 1. moratorium (n.): 1875, originally a legal term for “authorization to a debtor to postpone payment,” from neuter of Late Latin moratorius “tending to delay,” from Latin morari “to delay,” from mora “pause, delay,” from PIE *mere- “to hinder, delay.” The word didn’t come out of italics until 1914. General sense of “a postponement, deliberate temporary suspension” is first recorded 1932. Related: Moratorial.
moratoria (n.): Latin plural of moratorium.
2. A time when a particular activity is not allowed.

  • a legally authorized period of delay in the performance of a legal obligation or the payment of a debt.
  • a waiting period set by an authority.
  • a suspension of activity.

3. Collocations:

  • Adj.: six-month, etc.
  • Verb + moratorium: impose, place | call for | announce, declare.
  • Prep. ~ on/upon The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=moratorium&searchmode=none (last access: 4 September 2014). 2. MW – http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moratorium (last access: 2 September 2014). 3. http://oxforddictionary.so8848.com/search?word=moratorium (last access: 6 June 2015).

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