sojourn

[soh-jurn, soh-jurn, soh-jurn]

noun

1. a temporary stay.

   during his sojourn in Paris.

verb (used without object)

1. to stay for a time in a place; live temporarily.

   to sojourn on the Riviera for two months.

   Synonyms: stop, rest, vacation, visit

sojourn

/ ˈsʌdʒ-, ˈsɒdʒɜːn /

noun

1. a temporary stay

verb

1. (intr) to stay or reside temporarily

Other Word Forms

• sojourner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sojourn¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English verb sojurnen, Old French sojorner “to rest, stay,” from unattested Vulgar Latin subdiurnāre “to stay for a time,” a compound of the preposition and prefix sub, sub-, here meaning “a little, for a while” and the Latin verb diurnāre “to live for a long time,” a derivative of the Latin adjective diurnus “belonging to the daytime, occurring every day”; noun derivative of the verb; journey

Word History and Origins

Origin of sojourn¹

C13: from Old French sojorner, from Vulgar Latin subdiurnāre (unattested) to spend a day, from Latin sub- during + Late Latin diurnum day

Example Sentences

Abu Warda gunned the tractor’s engine, pushing it faster as he passed the shell of a seaside cafe where his family once stopped for tea and grilled chicken on weekend sojourns.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Following his sojourn in Europe and a brief stint back stateside, he won another fellowship to study in Mexico, where he absorbed the lessons of the activist muralists there.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Or to honesty, as a rule, though he insists that this account of his disastrous Venetian sojourn is genuine.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A striking cremello horse stood out from the rest — a beloved subject for photographers who sojourn here.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

His sojourn in Europe encouraged him to take a fresh approach to the United States: "I began to look at my country from another point of view," he later said.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• layover 
• stopover