dawn

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verb \ ˈdȯn , ˈdän \

Definition of dawn

intransitive verb

1 :to begin to grow light as the sun rises

waited for the day to dawn

2 :to begin to appear or develop

a new era is dawning

3 :to begin to be perceived or understood

the truth finally dawned on us

See dawn defined for English-language learners

See dawn defined for kids

Examples of dawn in a Sentence

They waited for the day to dawn.
A new age is dawning.

Recent Examples of dawn from the Web

That makes the next 24 hours not just eye-opening but heartbreaking for him, and Sang’s superb and stirring performance makes his dawning consciousness and courage powerfully felt.

— sheri linden, The Hollywood Reporter, "‘A Taxi Driver’: Film Review," 11 Aug. 2017
After the first greedy devouring of raw narration, there dawns a sense of the music within the words, the many voices that intrigue, or frighten, or amuse.

— john e. mcintyre, baltimoresun.com, "They also serve who stand and edit," 11 July 2017
But Goldstone, who wrote the email more than a year ago, denied any knowledge of involvement by the Russian government in the matter, saying that never dawned on him.

— Alaska Dispatch News, "Russian government sought to aid Trump’s candidacy, according to email," 11 July 2017
Then the nuclear age dawned, along with the Cold War.

— will higgins, Indianapolis Star, "That time Hoosiers built a tower to spot Soviet bombers," 10 July 2017
With the All-Star Game dawning in Miami on Tuesday, the little boys and girls who attend with their dads and moms, the players, the executives and everyone else will have to face similar memories of Hurricane Jose.

— ethan bauer, miamiherald, "It could have been ‘his All-Star Game.’ Now, reminders of Jose Fernandez are everywhere.," 8 July 2017
There were only two ways to go when the Fifth of July dawned.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "The Great American Shadow," 5 July 2017
This article is a selection from the July/August issue of Smithsonian magazine As the Renaissance dawned, maps began to improve.

— clive thompson, Smithsonian, "From Ptolemy to GPS, the Brief History of Maps," 27 June 2017
June 22, 2007 dawned atypically warm and muggy in Elie.

— ian livingston, Washington Post, "10 years later, Canada’s only F5 tornado remains in a class of its own," 22 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dawn.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of dawn

Middle English, probably back-formation from dawning daybreak, alteration of dawing, from Old English dagung, from dagian — see ¹daw

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

dawn Synonyms

Synonyms

actualize, appear, arise, break, commence, begin, engender, form, materialize, originate, set in, spring, start

Antonyms

cease, end, stop

Related Words

be, breathe, exist, live, subsist; arrive, come on, emerge; coalesce, cohere, shape (up); continue, endure, last, persist, survive

Near Antonyms

conclude, desist, discontinue, finish, halt, quit, terminate; disappear, dissolve, evaporate, vanish; depart, die, expire, pass away, perish

dawn

noun

Definition of dawn

1 :the first appearance of light in the morning followed by sunrise

danced till dawn

at the crack of dawn

Almost before the first faint sign of dawn appeared she arose again …
—Thomas Hardy

2 :beginning

the dawn of the space age

See dawn defined for English-language learners

Examples of dawn in a Sentence

as dawn breaks over the city
Winter brings late dawns and early sunsets.

Recent Examples of dawn from the Web

Apparently their Christian values did not extend to concerns about smuggling rare artifacts from the dawn of Western civilization.

— annalee newitz, Ars Technica, "Hobby Lobby must pay $3 million for smuggling ancient cuneiform artifacts," 6 July 2017
The resulting blue glow — known as Cherenkov radiation — has accidentally and abruptly flashed at least 60 times since the dawn of the nuclear age, signaling an instantaneous nuclear charge and causing a total of 21 agonizing deaths.

— patrick malone, Science | AAAS, "A near-disaster at a federal nuclear weapons," 29 June 2017
Every year, Muslims around the world observe the holy month of Ramadan, a month-long physical and spiritual cleanse characterized by daily fasting from dawn until dusk.

— noha amer, Allure, "How a Quarter-Life-Crisis Trip to Bali Reminded Me of the Power of Ramadan," 23 June 2017
There were false dawns: in 2008, Democrat Jim Martin knocked incumbent senator Saxby Chambliss into a general election runoff (Georgia requires majorities for both primary and general election wins)—but Chambliss won the runoff by a landslide.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "After Ossoff Defeat, Georgia Democrats Are Looking For Some Answers," 23 June 2017
From dawn until dusk every day this month, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, having sex, and generally gratifying physical desires.

— noha amer, Allure, "How a Quarter-Life-Crisis Trip to Bali Reminded Me of the Power of Ramadan," 23 June 2017
In southwest Louisiana, not far from where Cindy came ashore before dawn, motorists in trucks drove through knee-high water in the streets of Cameron Parish, but there was no serious flooding.

— CBS News, "Effects of weakening Tropical Depression Cindy linger," 22 June 2017
TOKYO – Rescue crews searched into the early hours on Sunday for seven American sailors missing after a U.S. destroyer collided with a container ship in the pre-dawn hours off the coast of Japan.

— reuters, Alaska Dispatch News, "Rescuers search for 7 missing U.S. sailors after collision off Japan," 17 June 2017
Ramadan is Muslim holy month marked by a daily dawn-to-dusk fast – this year from the evening of May 26 through the evening of June 24 – celebrating the revelation of the Quran to Muhammad.

— suzanne baker, Naperville Sun, "Ramadan is big business for some Naperville restaurants," 16 June 2017