I. dawn 1 /dɔːn $ dɒːn/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: daw 'to dawn' (10-19 centuries) , from Old English dagian ; related to day ]
1 . the time at the beginning of the day when light first appears SYN daybreak ⇨ dusk
at dawn
The boats set off at dawn.
When dawn broke (=the first light of the day appeared) , we were still 50 miles from Calcutta.
I was up at the crack of dawn (=very early in the morning) to get the plane.
We worked from dawn to dusk (=through the whole day while it is light) .
the cold light of dawn
2 . the dawn of civilization/time etc the time when something began or first appeared:
People have been falling in love since the dawn of time.
3 . a false dawn something that seems positive or hopeful but really is not:
There was talk of share prices recovering, but that was just a false dawn.
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THESAURUS
▪ beginning the first part of something such as a story, event, or period of time:
The beginning of the movie is very violent.
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Let’s go back to the beginning.
▪ start the beginning of something, or the way something begins:
Tomorrow marks the start of the presidential election campaign.
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It was not a good start to the day.
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The runners lined up for the start of the race.
▪ commencement formal the beginning of something – used especially in official contexts:
the commencement of the academic year
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the commencement of the contract
▪ origin the point from which something starts to exist:
He wrote a book about the origins of the universe.
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The tradition has its origins in medieval times.
▪ the onset of something the time when something bad begins, such as illness, old age, or cold weather:
the onset of winter
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An active lifestyle can delay the onset of many diseases common to aging.
▪ dawn literary the beginning of an important period of time in history:
People have worshipped gods since the dawn of civilization.
▪ birth the beginning of something important that will change many people’s lives:
the birth of democracy in South Africa
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the birth of the environmental movement
II. dawn 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
1 . if day or morning dawns, it begins:
The morning dawned fresh and clear after the storm.
2 . if a period of time or situation dawns, it begins:
The age of Darwin had dawned.
3 . if a feeling or idea dawns, you have it for the first time:
It began to dawn that something was wrong.
dawn on somebody phrasal verb
if a fact dawns on you, you realize it for the first time:
The ghastly truth dawned on me.
It dawned on me that Jo had been right all along.