Jump to:

• dawn
  dawn

  noun

  the first appearance of daylight in the morning.
• Dawn
  Dawn

  noun

  a female given name.

dawn

¹ American  

[dawn] / dɔn /

noun

1. the first appearance of daylight in the morning.

   Dawn broke over the valley.

   Synonyms:

   sunrise, daybreak

   Antonyms:

   sunset

2. the beginning or rise of anything; advent.

   the dawn of civilization.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to begin to grow light in the morning.

   The day dawned with a cloudless sky.

2. to begin to open or develop.

3. to begin to be perceived (usually followed byon ).

   The idea dawned on him.

   Synonyms:

   break, occur, appear

Dawn ² American  

[dawn] / dɔn /

noun

1. a female given name.

---

dawn British  

/ dɔːn /

noun

1. daybreak; sunrise

2. the sky when light first appears in the morning

3. the beginning of something

---

verb

1. to begin to grow light after the night

2. to begin to develop, appear, or expand

3. to begin to become apparent (to)

dawn Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing dawn

• crack of dawn
• light dawned

---

Other Word Forms

• dawnlike
  adjective
• undawned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of dawn

First recorded before 1150; Middle English dawen (verb), Old English dagian, derivative of dæg day; akin to Old Norse daga, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German dagen, Old High German tagēn

Explanation

The noun dawn refers to the first light of day, or the first time period, like the dawn of a new era, which occurs when a new president takes office. Not just the beginning of a day, the noun dawn can refer to any beginning, like the dawn of the Internet era. As a verb, dawn can mean "become light" or "become clear," like when it dawns on you that you left an important paper at home today. In that case, you can suddenly see what you did wrong, like at the dawn of a new day, when it is no longer dark and you can see, literally.

Example Sentences

Polk has spent decades studying this type of propulsion, contributing to earlier missions such as Dawn and Deep Space 1, which demonstrated electric propulsion beyond Earth orbit for the first time.

From Science Daily • May 6, 2026

Dawn had grown up in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders.

From BBC • May 6, 2026

Sign up to get an alert every time WSJ’s Carry On columnist Dawn Gilbertson publishes an article.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

This is WSJ travel reporter Jacob Passy, filling in for Dawn Gilbertson who is off this week.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Today, it’s Dawn Celeste with the bottle of water.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Related Words

• dawning
• daybreak
• daylight
• morning