adjourn (v.)

mid-14c., ajournen, "assign a day, fix a day" (for convening or reconvening of an organized body), from Old French ajorner (12c.) "meet" (at an appointed time), from the phrase à jorn "to another day, to a (stated) day," from à "to" (see ad-) + journ "day," from Latin diurnus "daily," from dies "day" (from PIE root *dyeu- "to shine").

The notion is of setting a date for re-meeting. The meaning "close a meeting" (with or without intention to reconvene) is from early 15c. The sense of "go in a body to another place" (1640s) is colloquial.

The English word has had the -d- since 16c., but the spelling is unetymological, as the compound apparently is not from Latin; Middle French also occasionally has adjourner, but this was rejected in Modern French. Related: Adjourned; adjourning.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to adjourn

adjournment (n.)

mid-15c., ajournement, "act of postponing or deferring (a court, assembly, etc.)," from Old French ajornement "daybreak, dawn; summons (to appear in court)," from ajorner (see adjourn), with unetymological -d- added in English on the mistaken expectation of a Latin origin.

Adjournment is the act by which an assembly suspends its session in virtue of authority inherent in itself; it may be also the time or interval of such suspension. A recess is a customary suspension of business, as during the period of certain recognized or legal holidays .... Recess is also popularly used for a brief suspension of business for any reason: as, it was agreed that there be a recess of ten minutes. [Century Dictionary]

Bundestag (n.)

German federal council, 1879, from German Bundestag, from genitive of Bund "league, confederacy, association" (related to English band (n.2) and bind (v.)) + tag, literally "day;" as a verb, tagen, "to sit in conference" (see day; also compare adjourn). Hence also Bundesrat "federal council of the German empire" (1872), from rat, rath "council" (see rathskeller).

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Trends of adjourn

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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recess

1530s, "act of receding or going back or away" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin recessus "a going back, retreat," from recessum, past participle of recedere "to go back, fall back; withdraw, depart, retire," from re- "back" (see re-) + cedere "to go" (from PIE root *ked- "to go

retire

1530s, of armies, "to retreat, draw back," also, of persons, "to withdraw" to some place, especially for the sake of privacy; from French retirer "to withdraw (something)," from re- "back" (see re-) + Old French tirer "to draw" (see tirade). Related: Retired; retiring. The sense

prorogue

The parliamentary meaning "discontinue temporarily, adjourn until a later time without dissolution" is attested from mid-...

post

"a timber of considerable size set upright," from Old English post "pillar, doorpost," and from Old French post "post, upright beam," both from Latin postis "door, post, doorpost," in Medieval Latin "a beam, rod, pole," which is perhaps from Vulgar Latin *por- "forth," a variant

spot

c. 1200, "moral stain;" by mid-14c. as "speck, stain left by something on a surface;" probably at least in part from a variant of Old English splott "a spot, blot, patch (of land)," and partly from or related to Middle Dutch spotte "spot, speck." Other cognates are East Frisian s

stop

Middle English stoppen, "obstruct (a passage) with a physical barrier; close up by filling, stuffing, or plugging," from Old English -stoppian (in forstoppian "to stop up, stifle"), a general West Germanic word, cognate with Old Saxon stuppon, West Frisian stopje, Middle Low Germ

teem

"abound, swarm, be prolific," Old English teman (Mercian), tieman (West Saxon) "beget, give birth to, bring forth, produce, propagate," from Proto-Germanic *tau(h)mjan (denominative), from PIE root *deuk- "to lead." Related to team (n.) in its now-obsolete Old English sense of "f

meet

Middle English mēten, from Old English metan "to find, find out; fall in with, encounter, come into the same place with; obtain," from Proto-Germanic *motjanan (source also of Old Norse mæta, Old Frisian meta, Old Saxon motian "to meet," Gothic gamotijan), from PIE root *mo

mete

"to allot," Old English metan (West Saxon mæton), "to measure, ascertain the dimension or quantity of; measure out; compare; estimate the greatness of value of" (class V strong verb; past tense mæt, past participle meten), from Proto-Germanic *metana "to measure" (source also of

gather

Old English gadrian, gædrian "unite, agree, assemble; gather, collect, store up" (transitive and intransitive), used of flowers, thoughts, persons; from Proto-Germanic *gaduron "come or bring together, unite" (source also of Old English gæd "fellowship, companionship," gædeling "

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updated on September 15, 2022

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Dictionary entries near adjourn

adjacence

adjacent

adjectival

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adjoin

adjourn

adjournment

adjudge

adjudicate

adjudication

adjudicative