Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Moratorium \Mor`a*to"ri*um\, n. [NL. See {Moratory}.] (Law)
   A period during which an obligor has a legal right to delay
   meeting an obligation, esp. such a period granted, as to a
   bank, by a moratory law.

Source : WordNet®

moratorium
     n 1: a legally authorized postponement before some obligation
          must be discharged
     2: suspension of an ongoing activity
     [also: {moratoria} (pl)]