Word page
Adjournment is the official-sounding moment when a meeting, session, or hearing is paused or brought to a close. It belongs to the world of gavels, agendas, and people who say “the chair recognizes.”
Adjournment means the formal suspension or end of a meeting, debate, court session, or legislative proceeding. Unlike a casual break, it carries procedural weight. The word suggests rules, timing, and the machinery of organized discussion.
Adjournment feels absurd because it makes a simple act—stopping for now—sound like a constitutional event. It wraps ordinary scheduling in the velvet curtains of procedure.
The word comes through French from Latin roots connected with postponing to another day. That history fits its modern use in courts, assemblies, and formal meetings, where time itself is managed by recognized procedure.
Yes. Adjournment remains standard in legal, governmental, and organizational contexts, though less common in casual speech.
Use adjournment in formal contexts involving meetings, hearings, sessions, or organized debates. It is especially useful when the procedural aspect matters.
Recess, Suspension, Postponement, Closing, Deferral
Convening, Resumption, Opening session
