moratorium

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin morātōrium (“delay”), recorded from the 5th century,^[2] the neuter of morātōrius (“delaying, dilatory”) used as a noun;^[2][3][4][5] Barnhart, Collins and Hoad call the noun New Latin.^[6][7][8] The adjective comes from morātus, the past participle of Latin moror (“to delay”), from mora (“pause, delay”).^[3][4][6][9] The OED compares German Moratorium, used in German from the 17th century.^[2] Etymonline derives mora from Proto-Indo-European *morh- (“to hinder, delay”), with Old Irish maraid (“lasts, remains”) as a cognate,^[4] while Barnhart takes it back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer-, the root of memor (“mindful”).^[6] The verb demur comes from the same Latin verb through French.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In law, an authorization for a debtor to put off a payment for a time, or the period of the delay: 1857, in The Times.^[2] The OED's revision of 2002 has antedated the word, which Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date to 1875.^{[2][4][6][11]}

Semantic evolution

Weekley and Etymonline note that the word was printed in italics, as a foreign term, until 1914.^[12][4] Its general sense, an agreed delay or a deliberate pause in some activity, often followed by on, is recorded from 1932, in the Baltimore Sun.^[2][6][4] In 1963 E. H. Erikson used it in psychology for a period of delay before an adolescent commits to an adult identity.^[2]

Timeline

• 1857 – law, an authorization to a debtor to postpone payment.^[2] Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date it to 1875.^{[2][4][6][11]}
• 1932 – a postponement or temporary suspension of an activity.^[2][6][4]
• 1963 – psychology, in Erikson's theory, a period of delay before adult commitment.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) A legally authorized postponement of an obligation, especially the payment of debts in a time of crisis; also the period of such a delay.^{[3][11][7][2]}
2. An agreed or deliberate temporary suspension of an activity: a moratorium on whaling.^[3][7][2]
3. (psychology) In Erikson's theory, a period of delay before an adolescent commits to an adult identity.^[2]

Related words

• moratory
• demur
• mora

Usage notes

The plural is moratoriums or moratoria.^[11][7][3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray