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

• suspend
• postpone
• recess

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

The government is in shutdown after the Senate adjourned Tuesday evening without passing a funding resolution, and the midnight deadline to keep all federal operations running passed. —Joshua Sammons, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025

After failing to pass the stopgap government funding bills on Wednesday, the Senate adjourned for the Yom Kippur holiday. —Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2025

As lawmakers prepared to adjourn ahead of next week's Jewish holidays, the finger-pointing was on full display on Capitol Hill. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 19 Sep. 2025

Dilone ultimately had a medical episode when the proceeding was adjourned and was hospitalized, the entry says. —Julia Marnin, Sacbee.com, 19 Sep. 2025

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

Rhymes for adjourn

• concern
• decern
• discern
• downturn
• extern
• heartburn
• interne
• nocturne
• return
• sunburn
• unworn
• upturn

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