awakening

[uh-wey-kuh-ning]

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adjective

rousing; quickening: an awakening interest in ballet.

noun

the act of awaking from sleep.

a revival of interest or attention.

a recognition, realization, or coming into awareness of something: a rude awakening to the disagreeable facts.

a renewal of interest in religion, especially in a community; a revival.

Origin of awakening

First recorded in 1585–95; awaken + -ing², -ing¹

Related formsa·wak·en·ing·ly, adverbre·a·wak·en·ing, nounun·a·wak·en·ing, adjective

awaken

[uh-wey-kuh n]

verb (used with or without object)

to awake; waken.

Origin of awaken

before 900; Middle English awak(e)nen, Old English awæcnian earlier onwæcnian. See a-¹, waken

Related formsa·wak·en·a·ble, adjectivea·wak·en·er, nounre·a·wak·en, verbwell-a·wak·ened, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for awakening

rebirth, incitement, provocation, revival, renewal, rousing, waking, stimulation, birth, kindling, activation, arousal

Examples from the Web for awakening

Contemporary Examples of awakening

It was a little bit like an awakening, and I just stuck with it.
Ron Perlman's Secret Suicide Attempt
William O’Connor
October 28, 2014
Her screams attracted attention, awakening one man who lived on the seventh floor of a nine-story building across the street.
The Myth of the Central Park Five
Edward Conlon
October 19, 2014
For some, it sped up a process of awakening that may have taken years.
Psychedelics Are Ready for a Comeback
Abby Haglage
September 8, 2014
“There has been an awakening,” a British defense official told The Daily Beast.
Did Vladimir Putin Just Save NATO?
Nico Hines
September 4, 2014
Shortly after his ninth birthday, Edwards experienced a “season of awakening.”
The Hellish Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, Malign Evangelist
Matthew Paul Turner
August 24, 2014

Historical Examples of awakening

He did not want to risk her awakening to a spoiled life and disappointed hopes.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
With me this awakening came with my first glimpse of his eyes.
The Underdog
F. Hopkinson Smith
The giants upon the hillside were just awakening from their night's sleep.
Opera Stories from Wagner
Florence Akin
At dawn the Cyclops woke, and his awakening was like a thunderstorm.
Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew
Josephine Preston Peabody
The sun had come back, and all the awakening Northland world was calling to him.
White Fang
Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for awakening

awakening

noun

the start of a feeling or awareness in a persona picture of an emotional awakening

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for awakening

awaken

Old English awæcnan (intransitive), "to spring into being, arise, originate," also, less often, "to wake up;" earlier onwæcnan, from a- (1) "on" + wæcnan (see waken). Transitive meaning "to rouse from sleep" is recorded from 1510s; figurative sense of "to stir up, rouse to activity" is from c.1600.

Originally strong declension (past tense awoc, past participle awacen), already in Old English it was confused with awake (v.) and a weak past tense awæcnede (modern awakened) emerged and has since become the accepted form, with awoke and awoken transferred to awake. Subtle shades of distinction determine the use of awake or awaken in modern English. Related: Awakening.