adjournment
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of adjournment
1635–45; < Anglo-French adjournement, Middle French. See adjourn, -ment
Explanation
When you end something or postpone it to a later time, that's an adjournment. When an initially friendly meeting becomes an angry shouting match, it might be time for an adjournment. Members at a company board meeting might request an adjournment for lunch, agreeing to reconvene in an hour. Court cases take similar adjournments, pausing for the weekend or holidays. The Supreme Court's regular schedule includes a summer-long adjournment that doesn't end until the first Monday in October, when a new session begins. The Old French source, ajornement, meant both "daybreak" and "summons to appear in court." Adjourn was initially used to mean "set a date to reconvene."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The most recent request for an adjournment of a scheduled status conference came in September.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
They sought an adjournment to allow him to complete an administration process for the company to then be sold, without the need for any government intervention.
From BBC • Aug. 20, 2025
On Wednesday, a court could force Liberty's speciality steel business to close over unpaid debts, putting 1,450 jobs at risk, unless the company wins an adjournment.
From BBC • May 20, 2025
Boasberg adjourned the hearing so Ensign could gather more information—and the government evidently exploited this adjournment to dispatch the two planes.
From Slate • Apr. 16, 2025
Justice de Wet gave us a three-week adjournment until October 29.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
