prorogue

WOTD – 8 April 2008

English

Etymology

From Old French proroger, proroguer, from Latin prōrogō (“prolong, defer”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹə(ʊ)ˈɹəʊɡ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹoʊˈɹoʊɡ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊɡ

Verb

prorogue (third-person singular simple present prorogues, present participle proroguing, simple past and past participle prorogued)

1. (obsolete) To prolong or extend. [15th-18th c.]
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.2.6.iv:

     Mirth […] prorogues life, whets the wit, makes the body young, lively, and fit for any manner of employment.

2. (transitive, now rare) To defer. [from 15th c.]
3. (transitive) To suspend (a parliamentary session) or to discontinue the meetings of (an assembly, parliament etc.) without formally ending the session. [from 15th c.]
   • 1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 20, Friday's Business^[1]:

     The King settled to prorogue Parliament until the Christmas holidays, and to do nothing else for the present.

Synonyms

• (to defer): defer, postpone
• (to prolong): extend, prolong, protract

Derived terms

• prorogate
• prorogation
• prorogator

Translations

to suspend a parliamentary session

• French: proroger (fr)
• German: vertagen (de)

• Italian: prorogare (it)
• Spanish: prorrogar

to defer

• German: verschieben (de), aufschieben (de)

to prolong or extend

• French: proroguer
• German: verlängern (de)

• Portuguese: prorrogar (pt)
• Spanish: prorrogar

See also

• Prorogation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Prorogation