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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

• beacons
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• beaconless
  adjective
• unbeaconed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• beacons
  plural

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

See Examples For:

beacon Beacon beacons

“Japan feels a sense of responsibility to safeguard the ideals of the United Nations as our beacon of hope,” Takaichi said on Tuesday.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

“Barry Melrose was a beacon for our sport and will be forever cherished and remembered for his passion and love of the game of hockey,” the Kings said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

But under Steinem’s editorship, which lasted until the sale of the magazine in 1987, it became both a beacon and a lifeboat for many contemporary women—a centerpiece of feminism’s second wave.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

In this new installment, Rainier represents a beacon of light for Gemma, a role that taught her a lot, Shaye says.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

I got two seconds of signal from the Hab beacon today, then lost it.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

The Washington Free Beacon first reported on the event.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026

Trump’s post won’t have an effect on the Fed, according to Stephen Myrow, managing partner at Beacon Policy Advisors.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026

“Our refineries could buy Venezuelan oil and then offer the U.S. government higher-quality oil,” said Clayton Seigle, a managing director at advisory firm Beacon Global Strategies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

CBS also boosted another El-Sayed tweet that was first revealed by the Washington Free Beacon, a right-wing outlet claiming to cover “the enemies of freedom.”

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

There was a computer in the basement with a program called Mavis Beacon, which gave lessons on typing.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

If the truck and the Walkman were metaphorical beacons, a modest gold, rope necklace and Jeff Kent’s mustache were concealed anchors even when in plain sight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Some ships are sailing “dark,” as it is known in the industry, turning off lights and traveling without navigational beacons known as AIS, or Automatic Identification Systems, that help prevent collisions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

Minute-by-minute location tracking is based on GPS data, pings to nearby cellphone towers, Bluetooth beacons and Wi-Fi connections.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

For many years, astronomers have relied on distant supernovae as cosmic beacons to study the universe and test the laws of physics.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 11, 2026

Very gradually, like one instrument after another being tentatively rehearsed, beacons of color began to pierce the sky.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Related Words

• flare
• lantern
• radar