Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AD-JOURN'MENT, n.

1. The act of adjourning; as, in legislatures, the adjournment of one House is not an adjournment of the other.
2. The putting off till another day or time specified, or without day; that is, the closing of a session of a public or official body.
3. The time or interval during which a public body defers business; as, during an adjournment. But a suspension of business, between the forming of a House and an adjournment for refreshment, is called a recess. In Great Britain, the close of a session of parliament is called a prorogation; as the close of a parliament is a dissolution. But in Great Britain, as well as in the United States, adjournment is now used for an intermission of business for any indefinite time; as, an adjournment of parliament for six weeks. – Select Speeches, vol. v. 404.