What does adjournment mean?
An adjournment is the temporary suspension of a meeting, court hearing, or legislative session, with the understanding that business will resume at a later time. The word belongs primarily to formal settings: courtrooms, parliaments, boards of directors, and other organised bodies whose rules govern when proceedings may pause. A judge may grant an adjournment so that lawyers can prepare evidence, while a legislature may rise for a summer adjournment before reconvening in the autumn. Unlike prorogation, which formally ends a parliamentary session, an adjournment implies continuity — the same body simply picks up where it left off. Derived from the Old French verb ajourner, meaning to set a day for meeting again, the noun entered English in the medieval period alongside the verb adjourn. It remains indispensable wherever procedure matters, conveying both the authority of the body pausing and the expectation that its work is unfinished rather than concluded.
nounThe act or result of adjourning a meeting, court session, or other formal gathering; a pause or suspension of proceedings to be resumed at a later time.
- A temporary suspension of a meeting, court session, or legislative proceeding, to be resumed later.
- The state or period during which such proceedings are suspended.
"The judge called for an adjournment until the following morning."
"Parliament rose for its summer adjournment in late July."
"Counsel sought a short adjournment to review the newly disclosed documents."
The plural is used mainly when referring to multiple separate instances of suspension, particularly in procedural or historical contexts.
"The trial was marked by repeated adjournments over several months."
In the UK House of Commons, one of the most famous ways to end a day's business is literally called 'the adjournment debate' — a ritual that has run since the 19th century and can still stretch past midnight.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of adjournment
Adjournment derives from the Old French verb ajourner, formed from à ('to') and jour ('day'), originally meaning to fix or appoint a day for meeting again. English adopted the verb adjourn in the medieval period via Anglo-Norman, and the noun adjournment followed as a derivative form. It shares this root with related French-derived words such as journal and journey, all ultimately stemming from the Latin diurnus, 'daily'.
Related word forms
How adjournment is actually used
Adjournment is chiefly a formal, legal, and parliamentary term. In everyday speech, words like 'break', 'pause', or 'postponement' are more natural; 'adjournment' signals official proceedings. In legal contexts it carries precise procedural weight — whether an adjournment is granted is often at a judge's discretion.
Easily confused with adjournment
Prorogation formally ends (discontinues) a parliamentary session without dissolving it, whereas adjournment merely suspends proceedings temporarily with the expectation of resuming.