adjournment
Americannoun
-
adjournments
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
She sent an email to the court saying she was "in fear" about attending court, claiming to have contracted Covid-19 and another unnamed virus, and asking for an adjournment.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
The most recent request for an adjournment of a scheduled status conference came in September.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
Shortly after October's court adjournment, the club's ownership claimed they had secured funding which would arrive "within 12 days" but ultimately that failed to materialise.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 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
We still had weeks of argument ahead, but the judges asked for a week’s adjournment.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
She also said the court process was a "trauma in itself" prolonged by seemingly "endless adjournments" which left her feeling voiceless.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2024
There is no evidence at this time that there is any relationship between the two adjournments.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 5, 2023
They regularly suggested “the lack of a quorum,” requiring a roll call of senators and in some cases even forcing adjournments when a quorum wasn’t present.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 12, 2022
Still, prosecutors were determined to try again, though it took almost two and a half years of adjournments and delays to reach a third trial in May 2015.
From New York Times ● Jul. 31, 2016
Bobby had two adjournments to play and analyze by himself.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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