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• beacon
  beacon

  noun

  a guiding or warning signal, as a light or fire, especially one in an elevated position.
• Beacon
  Beacon

  noun

  a city in SE New York.

beacon

¹ American  

[bee-kuhn] / ˈbi kən /

noun

1. a guiding or warning signal, as a light or fire, especially one in an elevated position.

   Synonyms:

   balefire, pharos, buoy, beam

2. a tower or hill used for such purposes.

3. a lighthouse, signal buoy, etc., on a shore or at a dangerous area at sea to warn and guide vessels.

4. Navigation.

   1. radio beacon.

   2. a radar device at a fixed location that, upon receiving a radar pulse, transmits a reply pulse that enables the original sender to determine their position relative to the fixed location.

5. a person, act, or thing that warns or guides.

6. a person or thing that illuminates or inspires.

   The Bible has been our beacon during this trouble.

7. Digital Technology.

   1. web beacon.

   2. a low-energy radio transmitter at a specific location within a store, museum, office space, etc., which identifies nearby mobile devices in order to send them location-specific messages or collect location-specific data.

      There must be a beacon in the luggage aisle because I just got a coupon for this suitcase on my phone.

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verb (used with object)

1. to serve as a beacon to; warn or guide.

2. to furnish or mark with beacons.

   a ship assigned to beacon the shoals.

verb (used without object)

1. to serve or shine as a beacon.

   A steady light beaconed from the shore.

Beacon ² American  

[bee-kuhn] / ˈbi kən /

noun

1. a city in SE New York.

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beacon British  

/ ˈbiːkən /

noun

1. a signal fire or light on a hill, tower, etc, esp one used formerly as a warning of invasion

2. a hill on which such fires were lit

3. a lighthouse, signalling buoy, etc, used to warn or guide ships in dangerous waters

4. short for radio beacon

5. a radio or other signal marking a flight course in air navigation

6. short for Belisha beacon

7. a person or thing that serves as a guide, inspiration, or warning

8. a stone set by a surveyor to mark a corner or line of a site boundary, etc

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verb

1. to guide or warn

2. (intr) to shine

Other Word Forms

• beaconless
  adjective
• unbeaconed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of beacon

First recorded before 950; Middle English beken, Old English bēacen “sign, signal”; cognate with Old Frisian bāken, Old Saxon bōkan, Old High German bouhhan

Explanation

If your nose is shining like a beacon, I hope you are a reindeer employed by a jolly fat man from the North Pole. Beacon comes from an Old English word meaning “sign,” and that's what actual beacons are for lost ships: signs of having made it to land. Beacons are often some kind of light, like the bonfires that the ancient Greeks lit on hillsides to communicate that an army had come home from overseas. You'll also see beacon used figuratively, especially in the phrase “beacon of hope.”

Example Sentences

But over the three years examined by the Beacon the number of nonwhite and non-Asian students at the Geffen school, which admits about 170 students each year, had increased by only 30.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026

I'm speaking to her at BabyZone, a hub for parents living on one of the biggest council estates in Europe: Beacon Tree.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

QXO went public through a reverse merger in June 2024 and acquired Beacon Roofing Supply for $11 billion in 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

“Over the past 11 months, we’ve built QXO into a market leader through more than $13 billion of acquisitions, closing on Beacon in 2025 and Kodiak earlier this month,” QXO Chief Executive Brad Jacobs said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Sheets of water rolled down the cobblestone streets of Beacon Hill, and the sidewalks were filled with people holding umbrellas.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

Related Words

• flare
• lantern
• radar