sojourn

1 of 2

noun

so·​journ ˈsō-ˌjərn How to pronounce sojourn (audio)
sō-ˈjərn
: a temporary stay
a sojourn in the country

sojourn

2 of 2

verb

sojourned; sojourning; sojourns

intransitive verb

: to stay as a temporary resident : stop
sojourned for a month at a resort
sojourner noun

Examples of sojourn in a Sentence

Noun The visit with my father was preceded by a sojourn with my sister, Joy—an artistic type and sometime vegan who plays the part of patient vegetarian whenever her unrepentantly carnivorous brother drops in—and her husband, who were kind enough to pick me up at Heathrow. John Haney, Gourmet, January 2003
On a recent sojourn in Sicily, I frequently found myself remembering that page in the children's encyclopedia, because it seemed to me that what I was seeing was as close as I will ever come to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Francine Prose, Atlantic, December 2002
My mother is Venezuelan, and every year during my childhood we spent a two-month sojourn with her family there. Alexandra Starr, New Republic, 20 May 2002
Our family enjoyed a two-week sojourn in the mountains. spent a relaxing sojourn in her friend's summer home Verb 'Am I hideous, Jane?' 'Very, sir: you always were, you know.' 'Humph! The wickedness has not been taken out of you, wherever you have sojourned.' Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847
… there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity. Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleep Hollow, 1820
began their retirement by leisurely sojourning with friends and relatives scattered across the country
Recent Examples on the Web
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Noun
Not too long ago, Flying Lotus was at home in L.A., coming off an extended sojourn in David Lynch’s surrealist world, when inspiration struck. Simon Vozick-Levinson, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2024 As Strachan explained before the performance—the members take turns talking to the audience, all showing a flair for communicative chat—Dvořák wrote the work after his sojourn in the United States, seeming to wallow happily in a return to a Czech milieu. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Verb
The elite of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Washington also sojourned at Deer Park. Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun, 10 Aug. 2024 Our feeds are positively heaving with sunny days, Aperol Spritz by the beach, and leisurely sojourns into the Italian countryside. Angela Law, refinery29.com, 2 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for sojourn 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English sojorn, from Anglo-French sujur, sujurn, from sujurner — see sojourn entry 2

Verb

Middle English, from Anglo-French sujurner, sejurner, from Vulgar Latin *subdiurnare, from Latin sub under, during + Late Latin diurnum day — more at up, journey

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sojourn was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near sojourn

Cite this Entry

“Sojourn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sojourn. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

sojourn

1 of 2 noun
so·​journ ˈsō-ˌjərn How to pronounce sojourn (audio)
sō-ˈjərn
: a temporary stay

sojourn

2 of 2 verb
: to stay as a temporary resident : stop
sojourned for a month at a resort
sojourner noun

More from Merriam-Webster on sojourn

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