What does Sine Die mean?

ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Friday, April 4, 2025, is the last day of this year’s Georgia General Assembly.

The session’s last day is called “Sine Die,” which is legalese for “indefinitely and Latin for “without day.” Its proper pronunciation is either “sahy-nee dahy-ee” or “sin-ey dee-ey,” at least according to Dictionary.com.

Sine Die is a Latin phrase composed of the preposition sine “without” (sine governs the ablative case) and diē, the ablative singular of the noun diēs “day.” Sine die entered the English language in the 17th century, according to the website.

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In politics, according to Political Dictionary, the word is used to signify the end of a legislative session without a specific date being set for the next session. Georgia lawmakers pronounce Sine Die as “sign-ee dye,” which could be a derivative of “sign or die,” meaning bills that aren’t approved on the legislature’s final day is “either signed or they die.”

Regardless of how it’s pronounced, Sine Die is among the legislature’s most important days, the others being when the session is actually convened and Crossover Day, which is the deadline for a bill to one of the two legislative chambers.