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

A large, gestural 1972 painting attested to a road not taken, while records of his sojourns in Europe and Africa revealed the influence of architecture on abstract structure.

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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.

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

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

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• layover 
• stopover