Definition of SOJOURN

Synonyms for sojourn

Synonyms: Noun

Synonyms: Verb

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: Noun

Photos of its badlands and prairies enchanted me, and the story of Teddy Roosevelt's sojourn there following the deaths of his wife and mother on the same day intrigued me. — Beth J. Harpaz, chicagotribune.com, "Badlands and history in Theodore Roosevelt National Park," 5 July 2018 The community dates back to Elijah's Damascus sojourn nearly 3,000 ago, but Jewish life really blossomed in the city after 1099, when Christian armies conquered Jerusalem in the First Crusade and massacred the city's inhabitants. — Bassem Mroue, Fox News, "Jewish artifacts disappear from Damascus in fog of Syria war," 17 June 2018 The secrecy and subterfuge that shrouded parts of Kim Jong Un’s Singapore sojourn this week underscored North Korea’s obsession with the safety of its supreme leader. — Chun Han Wong, WSJ, "Flying Sly: Secretive Kim Jong Un Makes It Hard to Roll Out the Red Carpet," 14 June 2018 That seemed unlikely anytime soon, of course, as Albany has another three weeks of legislative session before a six-month sojourn away from the Capitol. — Jesse Mckinley, New York Times, "State Senate Grinds to a Halt as Neither Party Can Make a Majority," 31 May 2018 Another dish inspired by Italian sojourns is pasta with a sauce of sautéed artichoke hearts and pancetta. — Melissa Clark, charlotteobserver, "Diving into the delicious mess that is the artichoke | Charlotte Observer," 15 May 2018 The 5-10, 183-pound Cleveland native played seven seasons for the Bengals (1986-92) before a brief sojourn to Washington for the 1993 season. — Jim Owczarski, Cincinnati.com, "The mixed history of the Cincinnati Bengals drafting No. 21 overall," 24 Apr. 2018 Roosevelt wrote three books inspired by his Western sojourn. — Beth J. Harpaz, chicagotribune.com, "Badlands and history in Theodore Roosevelt National Park," 5 July 2018 The extended sojourn stems from a 2016 arrest on various gun and drug trafficking charges. — Michael Saponara, Billboard, "Stream Nef The Pharaoh & 03 Greedo's Joint EP 'Porter2Grape': Exclusive," 12 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The residents of Blaine will have to endure the polite hordes of Canadians who sojourn here regularly, congesting local roads, patronizing the booming parcel economy, and emptying grocery-store shelves of their favorite products. — Alexandra Samuel, The Verge, "Welcome to Blaine, the town Amazon Prime built," 20 June 2018 But after the early 20th century, when President Theodore Roosevelt and his large brood sojourned nearby, its vitality mostly ebbed. — Julie Besonen, New York Times, "Go to Oyster Bay for the Food. Stay for the History," 15 Feb. 2018 It was related not long ago by Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the great president, now head of the Pullman Company, to Horace G. Young, a friend since boyhood, now sojourning at the Hotel del Coronado. — sandiegouniontribune.com, "WHEN LINCOLN LOST INAUGURAL ADDRESS," 12 Feb. 2018 Honeymooners can sojourn in some seriously dreamy digs—like an over-water bungalow—and the Maldives Huvafen Fushi boasts some of the finest. — Anne Roderique-jones, Vogue, "8 Honeymoon Ideas for Every Type of Couple," 22 Aug. 2017 Health in the Penthouse If merely sojourning in wellness isn't enough for you, welcome to the rarefied world of wellness real estate, the third-fastest growing wellness market, according to GWI's research. — Alexandra Kirkman, SELF, "The Big, Booming Business of Wellness," 4 Aug. 2017 On the first night, 18 aspiring journalists and two resident advisors sojourned down to the basement workshop where a young woman had allegedly been murdered. — Special To The Oregonian, OregonLive.com, "Thyme Masters: Making a journalist," 20 July 2017 With two days off between Games 3 and 4, the Ducks will sojourn to Kelowna, Canada, more than 500 miles away, for that break. — Curtis Zupke, latimes.com, "Ducks will have to earn their respite in Edmonton," 29 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sojourn.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for sojourn

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

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