/ dɔːn; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ U , C ] the time of day when light first appears
SYN daybreak , sunrise :
They start work at dawn .
It's almost dawn.
We arrived in Sydney as dawn broke (= as the first light could be seen) .
I woke up just before dawn.
summer's early dawns
He works from dawn till dusk (= from morning till night) .
—compare dusk
2.
[ sing. ] dawn (of sth) the beginning or first signs of sth :
the dawn of civilization / time / history
Peace marked a new dawn in the country's history.
•
IDIOMS
see break noun , crack noun
■ verb [ v ]
1.
( of a day or a period of time ) to begin :
The following morning dawned bright and warm.
A new technological age had dawned.
2.
to become obvious or easy to understand :
Slowly the awful truth dawned.
•
IDIOMS
see light noun
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- dawn on sb
••
WORD ORIGIN
late 15th cent. (as a verb): back-formation from Middle English dawning alteration of earlier dawing , from Old English dagian to dawn , of Germanic origin.