MO'RATO'RIUM (Neo-Lat., neu. sg. of Lat. moratorius, relating to delay, from mora, delay). An extraordinary act of a government, by which the collection of all debts is suspended for a specified time. A recent instance is the moratorium decreed by Argentina in 1890 at the time of the great financial crisis which led to the suspension of the Barings of London. Such an act may cause international complications.