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adjourn

[uh-jurn]
verb (used with object)
  1. to suspend the meeting of (a club, legislature, committee, etc.) to a future time, another place, or indefinitely: to adjourn the court.
  2. to defer or postpone to a later time: They adjourned the meeting until the following Monday.
  3. to defer or postpone (a matter) to a future meeting of the same body.
  4. to defer or postpone (a matter) to some future time, either specified or not specified.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to postpone, suspend, or transfer proceedings.
  2. to go to another place: to adjourn to the parlor.
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Origin of adjourn

1300–50; Middle English ajo(u)rnen < Middle French ajo(u)rner, equivalent to a- ad- + jorn- < Latin diurnus daily; see journal, journey
Related formspre·ad·journ, verbre·ad·journ, verbun·ad·journed, adjective
Can be confusedadjoin adjourn
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

deferrecessdiscontinuedelaysuspendshelvepostponecurbrestrainstayprorogue

Examples from the Web for adjourning

Historical Examples

  • More than once the convention was on the point of adjourning sine die.

    Union and Democracy

    Allen Johnson

  • "Adjourning—you mean," interrupted one of the orator's audience.

  • It is one oclock, A.M., and no one seems yet to think of adjourning the debate.

  • So take it either way, adjourning the trial would be of no use to you.

    The Battle of The Press

    Theophila Carlile Campbell

  • Come, gentlemen, there needs no great ceremony in adjourning this court.

    The Recruiting Officer

    George Farquhar

British Dictionary definitions for adjourning

adjourn

verb
  1. (intr) (of a court, etc) to close at the end of a session
  2. to postpone or be postponed, esp temporarily or to another place
  3. (tr) to put off (a problem, discussion, etc) for later consideration; defer
  4. (intr) informal
    1. to move elsewherelet's adjourn to the kitchen
    2. to stop work
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Derived Formsadjournment, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old French ajourner to defer to an arranged day, from a- to + jour day, from Late Latin diurnum, from Latin diurnus daily, from diēs day
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for adjourning

adjourn

v.

early 14c., ajournen, "assign a day" (for convening or reconvening), from Old French ajourner (12c.) "meet" (at an appointed time), from the phrase à jorn "to a stated day" (à "to" + journ "day," from Latin diurnus "daily;" see diurnal).

The sense is to set a date for a re-meeting. Meaning "to close a meeting" (with or without intention to reconvene) is from early 15c. Meaning "to go in a body to another place" (1640s) is colloquial. The unhistorical -d- was added 16c. Related: Adjourned; adjourning.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper