moratorium

Forms

morātōrium n (genitive morātōriī); second declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin morātōrius (“delaying”), used as a noun in the neuter,^[1] and so belongs with moror (“to delay”)^[2] and mora¹ (“delay”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Novum Glossarium cites it from the letters of Lupus,^[2] written between 805 and 862,^[1] in the sense of a delay: someone is said to have devised a new delay to the ruin of the writer's church.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Latin used it for a postponement,^[2][1] and in the Czech lands for money paid for a stay or a journey.^[3] English took over the word in 1875 as a legal term for a debtor's permission to put off payment, and used it for any deliberate temporary suspension by 1932.^[4]

Timeline

• 805–862 – Lupus uses it in a letter for a delay.^[2][1]
• 1875 – Borrowed into English as moratorium, a legal term for the postponement of a debt.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A delay, postponement.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Money given for a stay or a journey.^[3]

Related words

• mora¹
• moror
• English moratorium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d e f g Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
3. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com