Crossword Dictionary
adjourn
adjourn, withdraw, retire - v
break from a meeting or gathering; "We adjourned for lunch"; "The men retired to the library"
To adjourn is to close a session of something, like at court. People also adjourn when they go to bed.
When something is adjourned, it's over. This word comes up most often in court. Lawyers and citizens don't have the power to adjourn — to call a recess in the proceedings. Only a judge can adjourn the court. This can also be used in any situation where someone is withdrawing from somewhere, or retiring for awhile. "I must adjourn!" is a fancy way of saying "I'm out of here! I need to get some sleep. See you tomorrow."
etymology
mid-14c., ajournen, "assign a day, fix a day" (for convening or reconvening of an organized body), from Old French ajorner(12c.) "meet" (at an appointed time), from the phrase à jorn "to another day, to a (stated) day," from à "to" (see ad-) + journ"day," from Latin diurnus "daily," from dies "day" (from PIE root *dyeu- "to shine").
The notion is of setting a date for re-meeting. The meaning "close a meeting" (with or without intention to reconvene) is from early 15c. The sense of "go in a body to another place" (1640s) is colloquial.
The English word has had the -d- since 16c., but the spelling is unetymological, as the compound apparently is not from Latin; Middle French also occasionally has adjourner, but this was rejected in Modern French.