English Explanatory Dictionary

dawn

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To begin to brighten with daylight.
  2. To start to appear or become obvious.
  3. To begin to give promise; to begin to appear or to expand.
noun
  1. The morning twilight period immediately before sunrise.
  2. The rising of the sun.
  3. The time when the sun rises.
  4. The earliest phase of something.
name
  1. A female given name from English sometimes given to a girl born at that time of day.

Pronunciation

/dɔːn/ /dɔn/ En-us-dawn.ogg /dɑn/ /doːn/

Word forms

dawn dawns dawning dawned

Etymology

From Middle English dawnen, either a back-formation from dawnynge or a modification of dawen (“to dawn”) after it. The noun is from the verb.

Synonyms

glimpse ass crack of dawn break break of dawn break of day butt crack of dawn cockcrow crack of dawn dawn daybreak daylight dayspring first light lauds solrise sparrow-fart sun sunlight sunrise sunrising sunup day-dawn beginning onset start

Antonyms

dusk

Related words

dawning crepuscular early morning postdawn morning midday afternoon evening night midnight dawn chorus

Derived words

dawn on crack of dawn dawn ape dawn choir dawn chorus dawn horse dawnless dawnlight dawnlike dawn man dawn of a new day dawn of time dawn patrol dawn poppy dawn prayer dawn raid dawn redwood dawn stone dawn tetria dawntime dawn upon dawny false dawn foredawn handbags at dawn it is always darkest before the dawn it is always darkest just before the dawn it is darkest before the dawn it is darkest just before the dawn new dawn northern dawn pistols at dawn predawn sundawn the darkest hour is always just before the dawn the darkest hour is just before the dawn yesterdawn
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