Adjournment
The motion that formally closes a meeting, and why it is not the same thing as a break.
Adjournment formally ends a board meeting. Unlike a recess, which pauses business and lets it resume right where it left off, adjournment closes the meeting entirely, and any unfinished business carries over to the next regular meeting instead of continuing immediately. The motion to adjourn outranks nearly every other motion on the floor.
Adjournment ends the meeting. A recess only pauses it.
Once the board adjourns, the meeting is over, not paused, over. If the board needs to talk again later, that is a new meeting with its own notice and its own quorum, not a continuation of the one that just closed.
A recess is different. It is a short break inside the same meeting, for lunch, for a private word between two directors, for the treasurer to double check a number, and when the board comes back, everything resumes exactly where it stopped.
"A recess is an intermission in the day's proceedings, as for meals or for counting the ballots when much time is required."
Source: Robert's Rules of Order, Privileged Motions chapter, Henry M. Robert (1915 public domain edition)
The motion to adjourn is hard to stop
Under parliamentary procedure, a motion to adjourn is a privileged motion. That means it jumps ahead of almost everything else on the floor, even a motion someone is in the middle of debating.
"[The motion to adjourn] takes precedence of all others, except the privileged motion 'to fix the time to which to adjourn.'"
Source: Robert's Rules of Order, Privileged Motions chapter, Henry M. Robert (1915 public domain edition)
It also cannot be debated or amended. A director either seconds it and the board votes, or it fails, there is no arguing about whether now is a good time to stop. Whether your board has actually adopted a parliamentary authority like Robert's Rules at all depends on your bylaws, check the parliamentary authority clause before assuming this applies to your meetings.
What happens to the business you didn't finish
Adjourning does not erase the agenda. Anything the board hadn't gotten to becomes unfinished business and comes back at the next regular meeting, ahead of new items, rather than starting over from scratch.
Exactly what a board may still do in the moments right before or during adjournment, for instance if it has just lost quorum, depends on your governing documents and your adopted parliamentary authority. Check your bylaws rather than assuming a fixed script. See Losing quorum during a meeting for what changes once quorum drops mid meeting.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
The board is discussing a landscaping vendor contract when a director moves to adjourn and it passes. What happens to that discussion?
A director wants to end the meeting right now, while another item is still being debated. Which motion outranks nearly everything else on the floor in this situation?
After a long budget debate, the chair calls a ten minute recess instead of adjourning. What is true when the board reconvenes?
Sources
Board Meetings
Curious what changes when quorum disappears before you get to adjourn? Read Losing quorum during a meeting next.
This is general education, not legal advice. Parliamentary procedure only governs your board if your bylaws adopt it, and the exact rules for ending a meeting can vary by state law and by your own governing documents. Check your bylaws and, when in doubt, ask an attorney who works with community associations in your state.