adjourn

verb

ad·​journ ə-ˈjərn 

adjourned; adjourning; adjourns

transitive verb

: to suspend indefinitely or until a later stated time

adjourn a meeting

Court is adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow.

intransitive verb

1

: to suspend a session indefinitely or to another time or place

Congress will not adjourn until the budget has been completed.

2

: to move to another place

We adjourned to the library.

Synonyms

• prorogate
• prorogue
• recess
• suspend

Examples of adjourn in a Sentence

The chairperson has adjourned the meeting.

Court is adjourned until 10:00 tomorrow.

The meeting adjourned at 4:00.

Congress will not adjourn until the budget has been completed.

Recent Examples on the Web

After nearly nine hours of debate, the Missouri Senate adjourned late Wednesday evening without taking action on the legislation. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 4 Apr. 2024

The commission heard arguments from lawyers Tuesday, but immediately adjourned when tornado sirens started going off as a storm moved through the area. —Eleanor McCrary, The Courier-Journal, 3 Apr. 2024

The General Assembly adjourned March 9 having snubbed the arena, and Democratic leaders rebuffed Youngkin’s attempts to revive it ahead of a routine April 17 legislative session for considering vetoes and amendments proposed by the governor. —Meagan Flynn, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024

There are always surprises in the Arizona Legislature, and lots could change before lawmakers adjourn for the year. —Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 27 Feb. 2024

His nominating convention adjourned without choosing a running mate for him. —Ron Elving, NPR, 30 Mar. 2024

But the Senate adjourned without taking up the bill, effectively killing it for the year. —Gene Maddaus, Variety, 29 Mar. 2024

The case, which was initially scheduled to begin jury selection on Monday, was adjourned for 30 days by Merchan earlier this month, after defense attorneys raised issues with the late production of over 100,000 pages of potential evidence by federal prosecutors. —Olivia Rubin, ABC News, 25 Mar. 2024

But altering the bill in any way would have assured a shutdown; the legislation would have had to be approved again by the House, which had already adjourned for a recess slated to go longer than two weeks. —Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ajornen, ajournen, adjornen "to set a day for reconvening (a court or assembly), suspend temporarily, postpone," borrowed from Anglo-French ajorner, ajourner, from a- (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + jorn, jor "day," going back to Late Latin diurnum (Latin, "daily ration, daybook"), from neuter of Latin diurnus "daily" — more at diurnal entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing adjourn

• adjourn to

Kids Definition

adjourn

verb

ad·​journ ə-ˈjərn 

1

: to bring or come to a close for a period of time

Congress adjourned

adjourn a meeting

2

: to move to another place

let us adjourn to the sitting room

adjournment

-mənt

noun

Legal Definition

adjourn

transitive verb

ad·​journ ə-ˈjərn 

: to put off further proceedings of either indefinitely or until a later stated time : close formally

adjourning the session

intransitive verb

: to suspend a session or meeting till another time or indefinitely : suspend formal business or procedure and disband

the congress will adjourn next month

adjournment noun