What does pendency mean?
Pendency is a formal noun meaning that something is waiting to be decided, completed, or acted upon. It can describe a general state of delay or suspension, but it is especially common in legal English. In that context, the pendency of a lawsuit or proceeding means the period between its initiation and its final resolution, usually while the parties await a ruling or trial. The word has a formal, procedural tone and is more often encountered in legal documents, judgments, and institutional writing than in everyday conversation. Although it shares its linguistic roots with words such as pendent, pending, and suspense, pendency specifically emphasizes the condition of being unresolved rather than the act of postponing something. Understanding it is useful when reading contracts, court decisions, and other texts that describe the legal status of an unresolved matter.
nounThe state of being pending or awaiting resolution. In legal usage, it refers to the period during which a claim or action remains undecided and awaiting trial.
- The state of being pending, awaiting decision, or held in abeyance.
- The condition of a legal claim, lawsuit, or proceeding that is awaiting trial or final determination.
"The court ordered the parties to submit further briefs during the pendency of the dispute."
"The proposal remained in pendency while the committee considered the objections."
"The parties agreed to maintain the status quo for the pendency of the appeal."
The plural is possible but uncommon; the uncountable form is often preferred, especially in legal writing.
"The court addressed several procedural pendencies in its order."
In a courtroom, pendency names the suspense of a case that has been filed but not yet resolved.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does pendency come from?
Pendency comes from Latin pendentia, meaning a hanging or a state of suspension, derived from pendere, “to hang.” The Latin root also underlies English cognates and relatives including pendent, pendant, suspend, suspense, and pensive. The sense of being legally unresolved developed from the broader idea of something being suspended or held in a state of delay.
Related word forms
How pendency is actually used
Pendency is a formal and relatively uncommon word. It is especially associated with legal writing, where it describes the period during which a case or proceeding remains unresolved.
Easily confused with pendency
Pendency is the noun naming the state of awaiting a decision, while pending is the adjective describing something that has not yet been decided or completed.
Pendency names a condition or period of delay, whereas pendent is an adjective meaning hanging, suspended, or awaiting decision.