adjourn

views updated Jun 08 2018

ad·journ / əˈjərn/ • v. [tr.] (usu. be adjourned) break off (a meeting, legal case, or game) with the intention of resuming it later: the meeting was adjourned until December 4 [intr.] let's adjourn and reconvene at 2 o'clock. ∎  [intr.] (of people who are together) go somewhere else, typically for refreshment: they adjourned to a local bar. ∎  put off or postpone (a resolution or sentence).DERIVATIVES: ad·journ·ment n.ORIGIN: Middle English (in the sense ‘summon someone to appear on a particular day’): from Old French ajorner, from the phrase a jorn (nome) ‘to an (appointed) day.’

adjourn

views updated May 23 2018

adjourn †appoint a day for XIV; defer XV. — OF. ajorner (mod. ajourner), f. phr. a jorn (nomé) to an (appointed) day, jorn :- L. diurnum day (whence F. jour, etc.), n. of diurnus daily (cf. DIURNAL).

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