pending

[pen-ding] /ˈpɛn dɪŋ/
preposition
1.
while awaiting; until:
pending his return.
2.
in the period before the decision or conclusion of; during:
pending the negotiations.
adjective
3.
remaining undecided; awaiting decision or settlement; unfinished:
pending business; pending questions; pending litigation.
4.
about to take place; impending.
Origin
1635-45; pend + -ing2, on the model of French pendant (see pendent)
Related forms
nonpending, adjective
unpending, adjective
Can be confused
pending, impending.

pend

[pend] /pɛnd/
verb (used without object)
1.
to remain undecided or unsettled.
2.
to hang.
3.
Obsolete. to depend.
Origin
1490-1500; ≪ Latin pendēre to be suspended, hang, depend
Examples from the web for pending
  • State Department-issued warnings pending at press time.
  • There are several arms control negotiations pending.
  • In December 1997 he ordered the wolves' removal from the park, but stayed the order pending an appeal.
  • That case has been pending nearly three years.
  • When a main motion is laid on the table, or postponed to a certain time, it carries with it all pending subsidiary motions.
  • Most of the lawsuits are still pending, she says.
  • The answer is still pending.
  • The second charge, of an illegal corporate donation, is still pending.
  • The resolution is again open to debate and amendment, as it has again become the immediately pending question.
  • The tribe has pending federal legislation on flooding issues.
British Dictionary definitions for pending

pending

/ˈpɛndɪŋ/
preposition
1.
while waiting for or anticipating
adjective (postpositive)
2.
not yet decided, confirmed, or finished: what are the matters pending?
3.
imminent: these developments have been pending for some time

pend

/pɛnd/
verb (intransitive)
1.
to await judgment or settlement
2.
(dialect) to hang; depend
noun
3.
(Scot) an archway or vaulted passage
Word Origin
C15: from Latin pendēre to hang; related to Latin pendere to suspend
Word Origin and History for pending
prep.

1640s, "during, in the process of," preposition formed from root of French pendant "during," literally "hanging," present participle of pendere "to hang, to suspend" (see pendant). Meaning patterned on a secondary sense of Latin pendente "not decided," literally "hanging," in legal phrase pendente lite "while the suit is pending." Use of the present participle before nouns caused it to be regarded as a preposition. As an adjective from 1797.

pend

v.

c.1500, "to depend, to hang," from French pendre, from Late Latin pendere "to hang" (see pendant). In some cases short for depend.