define moratorium
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 New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright Â© 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.