sine die
Definition
- Adverb:
- Indefinitely; without a day being set for a future meeting or action: Used to describe an adjournment or postponement that is made with no specific date set for resumption or continuation. It implies an open-ended delay.
Usage
- The term is used formally, primarily in legal, parliamentary, or official organizational contexts to describe the act of suspending proceedings indefinitely.
- It is almost always used with verbs like "adjourn," "postpone," or "defer."
Examples
- Adverb:
- The committee decided to adjourn the hearing sine die.
- Due to the unresolved fundamental issues, the negotiations were postponed sine die.
Advanced Usage
- "To adjourn sine die": This is the most common collocation, meaning to end a formal meeting or session without scheduling a future one.
- The legislative session was adjourned sine die after passing the budget.
Variants and Related Words
- Indefinite adjournment (noun phrase): A postponement without a fixed date, often used as a plain-English equivalent of "adjournment sine die."
- Adjournment sine die (noun phrase): The act or instance of adjourning indefinitely.
Synonyms
- Indefinitely: For an unlimited or unspecified period.
- Without a fixed date: Lacking a scheduled day for resumption.
Notes on Meaning
- The phrase is Latin in origin, meaning "without a day." It carries a formal and sometimes final connotation, though it does not necessarily mean "permanently canceled." It signifies that the matter is suspended until further notice, which may or may not ever come.
Adverb
-
without a date fixed (as of an adjournment)
