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Synonyms

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

"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

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)

"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
dawn Idioms  

    More idioms and phrases containing dawn

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Around the crack of dawn, a line begins forming at a strip mall in Hyattsville, Maryland, as residents ranging from students to delivery workers and federal contractors wait to sign up for food assistance.

From Barron's

In some sense, this is akin to the realization that dawns on most people regarding their parents: Before we came along, they had a whole identity that had nothing to do with us.

From Salon

That night I made myself stay awake, watching the sky for its darkest hour before the dawn, when the sleepy guards were most likely to be dozing.

From Literature

I dropped down from the tree at the crack of dawn.

From Literature

Now, there’s a dawning realization that these tools can do far more.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.