Prorogating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Bringing a legislative session to an end for a set period without dissolving the assembly ; putting off or delaying an action to a later date
2. Adjourning a parliament or governing body for a time without ending its existence ; postponing a decision or event until some later occasion
3. Suspending a legislature's sitting until a future date while keeping it intact ; deferring or holding back something to be settled at another time

Etymology: "Prorogating" is the present participle of "prorogate," so its story is the story of that verb. "Prorogate" comes from Latin "prorogare," built from "pro-," meaning "forward" or "forth," and "rogare," "to ask" or "to propose." The original sense was roughly "to extend a period" or "to postpone," as in holding a session open for a further stretch of time. In English, the verb was first used for the postponement of a legislative or judicial session to a later date. Its modern meaning, bringing a parliament's sitting to an end without dissolving it so that a new session can begin, is a narrower, technical use of that older idea of deferring to a later time. The same root gave English "prorogation," the noun for the act itself.

Synonyms: suspend, adjourn, recess, discontinue, defer

Antonyms: convene, reconvene, resume, summon