The word for today is…
respite (noun) – 1. A usually short period of rest or relief.
2. (Law) (a) Temporary suspension of the execution of a sentence.
(b) Forbearance or delay, as granted in the payment of a debt.
Source : The Free Dictionary
Etymology : Respite is first known to have been used at the turn of the 14th century to refer to a delay or extension asked for or granted for a specific reason—to give someone time to deliberate on a proposal, for example. Such a respite offered an opportunity for the kind of consideration inherent in the word’s etymology. Respite traces from the Latin term respectus (also the source of English’s respect), which comes from respicere, a verb with both concrete and abstract meanings: “to turn around to look at” or “to regard.” Within a few decades of its earliest known use, English speakers had granted respite the sense we use most often today—”a welcome break.”
