dawn

English

Etymology

Back-formation from dawning. (If the noun rather than the verb is primary, the noun could directly continue dawing.) Compare daw (“to dawn”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɔːn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɔn/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /dɑn/

  • Audio (GA)

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /doːn/
• Homophones: don, Don (accents with the cot-caught merger)
• Rhymes: -ɔːn, -ɒn

Verb

dawn (third-person singular simple present dawns, present participle dawning, simple past and past participle dawned)

1. (intransitive) To begin to brighten with daylight.

   A new day dawns.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew xxviii:1:

     In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene […] to see the sepulchre.

   • Begin definition

     To start, to initiate or take the first step into something. (1 of 3 begin definitions)

   • Brighten definition

     To make bright or brighter in color. (1 of 5 brighten definitions)

   • Daylight definition

     The light from the Sun, as opposed to that from any other source. (1 of 10 daylight definitions)
2. (intransitive) To start to appear or be realized.

   I don’t want to be there when the truth dawns on him.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.

   • Appear definition

     To come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible. (1 of 6 appear definitions)

   • Realize definition

     (1 of 9 realize definitions)
3. (intransitive) To begin to give promise; to begin to appear or to expand.
   • 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     in dawning youth

   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:

     when life awakes, and dawns at every line

Derived terms

• dawn on

Translations

Noun

dawn (countable and uncountable, plural dawns)

1. (uncountable) The morning twilight period immediately before sunrise.

   • Morning definition

     The early part of the day, especially from dawn to noon. (1 of 4 morning definitions)

   • Twilight definition

     The soft light in the sky seen before the rising and (especially) after the setting of the sun, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth. (1 of 5 twilight definitions)

   • Sunrise definition

     The time of day when the sun appears above the eastern horizon. (1 of 3 sunrise definitions)
2. (countable) The rising of the sun.

   Synonyms: break of dawn, break of day, daybreak, day-dawn, dayspring, sunrise

   • Rising definition

     present participle and gerund of rise

   • Sun definition

     ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Sundanese.

   • Break Of Dawn definition

     Daybreak.

   • Break Of Day definition

     Daybreak.

   • Daybreak definition

     Dawn.

   • Day-Dawn definition

     The rising of the sun; the time when the sun rises.

   • Dayspring definition

     The beginning of the day, or first appearance of light; the dawn; daybreak.
3. (uncountable) The time when the sun rises.

   Synonyms: break of dawn, break of day, crack of dawn, daybreak, day-dawn, dayspring, sunrise, sunup

   She rose before dawn to meet the train.

   • Time definition

     The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events. (1 of 27 time definitions)

   • Crack Of Dawn definition

     The first moment of daylight; before sunrise.

   • Sunup definition

     The time of day when the sun appears above the eastern horizon. (1 of 2 sunup definitions)
4. (uncountable) The earliest phase of something.

   Synonyms: beginning, onset, start

   the dawn of civilization

   • 2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

     The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).

   • Early definition

     At a time in advance of the usual or expected event. (1 of 6 early definitions)

   • Phase definition

     A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time. (1 of 12 phase definitions)

   • Beginning definition

     The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states. (1 of 4 beginning definitions)

   • Onset definition

     An attack; an assault especially of an army. (1 of 6 onset definitions)

   • Start definition

     The beginning of an activity. (1 of 7 start definitions)

Antonyms

• dusk

Hypernyms

• twilight

Hyponyms

• astronomical dawn
• civil dawn
• nautical dawn

Derived terms

Related terms

• dawning

Translations

See also

• crepuscular

See also

• (times of day) time of day; dawn, morning, noon/midday, afternoon, dusk, evening, night, midnight ^{(Category: en:Times of day)}

References

• “dawn”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “dawn”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Dwan, Wand, wand

Maltese

Alternative forms

• dawna, daw

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dawn/

Determiner

dawn

1. plural of dan

   Coordinate term: hedawn (hedawna)

   • Dan definition

     ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Danish.

   • Hedawn definition

     emphatic form of dawn (“these”)

   • Hedawna definition

     alternative form of hedawn

Middle English

Noun

dawn

1. Alternative form of dan

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dau̯n/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -au̯n

Etymology 1

From Proto-Brythonic *don, from Proto-Celtic *dānus (whence also Irish dán), from Proto-Indo-European *déh₃nom (“gift”). Compare Latin dōnum.

Noun

dawn f (plural doniau)

1. talent, natural gift, ability

   • Talent definition

     A marked natural ability or skill. (1 of 5 talent definitions)

   • Gift definition

     Something given to another voluntarily, without charge. (1 of 4 gift definitions)

   • Ability definition

     Suitableness. (1 of 7 ability definitions)

Derived terms

• donio (“to gift, to endow”)
• doniog (“gifted, talented”)
• doniol (“funny”)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

dawn

1. first-person plural future colloquial of dod

   • Dod definition

     sulk, huff

Alternative forms

• down (colloquial)
• deuwn (literary)

Mutation