Postponement is the noun for moving a planned event or action to a later time — and also for that later time itself. A match still exists; the postponement is only the change of date. Schools, offices, and news like the word: they postpone a meeting, then announce a postponement. It feels a little more formal than “putting it off.” Though actually, people stretch it: “after many postponements” often sounds tired or annoyed, not just calm and official. Delay sits nearby, but delay can mean something is simply late, with no new date chosen. A postponement usually means someone did choose a later day. It is not a cancellation. Cancel takes the thing off the calendar; postponement leaves it on, only further along.