Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Adjourn \Ad*journ"\, v. i.
To suspend business for a time, as from one day to another,
or for a longer period, or indefinitely; usually, to suspend
public business, as of legislatures and courts, or other
convened bodies; as, congress adjourned at four o'clock; the
court adjourned without day.
Adjourn \Ad*journ\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Adjourned}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Adjourning}.] [OE. ajornen, OF. ajoiner, ajurner, F.
ajourner; OF. a (L. ad) + jor, jur, jorn, F. jour, day, fr.
L. diurnus belonging to the day, fr. dies day. Cf. {Journal},
{Journey}.]
To put off or defer to another day, or indefinitely; to
postpone; to close or suspend for the day; -- commonly said
of the meeting, or the action, of convened body; as, to
adjourn the meeting; to adjourn a debate.
It is a common practice to adjourn the reformation of
their lives to a further time. --Barrow.
'Tis a needful fitness That we adjourn this court till
further day. --Shak.
Syn: To delay; defer; postpone; put off; suspend.
Usage: To {Adjourn}, {Prorogue}, {Dissolve}. These words are
used in respect to public bodies when they lay aside
business and separate. Adjourn, both in Great Britain
and this country, is applied to all cases in which
such bodies separate for a brief period, with a view
to meet again. Prorogue is applied in Great Britain to
that act of the executive government, as the
sovereign, which brings a session of Parliament to a
close. The word is not used in this country, but a
legislative body is said, in such a case, to adjourn
sine die. To dissolve is to annul the corporate
existence of a body. In order to exist again the body
must be reconstituted.
Source : WordNet®
adjourn
v 1: close at the end of a session; "The court adjourned" [syn: {recess},
{break up}]
2: break from a meeting or gathering; "We adjourned for lunch";
"The men retired to the library" [syn: {withdraw}, {retire}]