dawn

1 of 2

verb

ˈdȯn How to pronounce dawn (audio)
ˈdän
dawned; dawning; dawns

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

dawn

2 of 2

noun

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

Examples of dawn in a Sentence

Verb They waited for the day to dawn. A new age is dawning. Noun as dawn breaks over the city Winter brings late dawns and early sunsets.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
But in a community idling in the latter half of its latest boom-bust cycle, misgivings have taken a back seat to optimism — and a dawning acceptance that a region built on coal, oil and gas may have little choice but to embrace a new identity. Karin Brulliard, Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2023 Officials around the world have expressed concerns about AI’s potential dangers even as the US and China compete to dominate the dawning era of chatbots and content generators. Thomas Black, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023 Alex Smith called Sloane into the family’s kitchen recently on a day before a new school year dawned. Jonathan Abrams, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2023 The day of the finals dawned blistering hot, with the mercury headed north of ninety degrees by late morning. Sally H. Jacobs, Town & Country, 15 Aug. 2023 His eyes will betray his panic, his fear, his dawning realization of his powerlessness. Rory Smith, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2023 The executives, however, left the meeting with a dawning realization about some shortcomings of that offer, which had further infuriated rank-and-file WGA members. Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 27 Sep. 2023 The era of fast fashion was dawning, but Forever 21 and H&M had yet to make inroads into my town—and didn’t carry pants with my lengthy inseam anyway. Ann Friedman, The Atlantic, 11 Sep. 2023 You’ve been denied the dawning awareness, garnered over decades, that people who grow up with their birth families receive. Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2023
Noun
The moments marked the dawn of a new era in media as the three television networks — NBC, CBS and ABC — that owned the audience 60 years ago stayed on the air for four days to provide live, continuous coverage of a national crisis for the first time. Stephen Battaglio, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Nov. 2023 For Silicon Valley, the dawn of the AI age has been a spiritual revival; after a decade of increasing public wariness about tech’s influence on the world, the roaring enthusiasm for tools like ChatGPT has created a new boom. Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 22 Nov. 2023 Two days before opening in mid-September, just before dawn, burglars threw a brick through Dilawri’s window. Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2023 At the dawn of the new millennium, however, the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, took steps to reverse the decline. Lisa Johnson, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Nov. 2023 Since the dawn of dinner, food fads have formed, and fizzled. David Pogue, CBS News, 19 Nov. 2023 Mosquitoes that spread such diseases are more active at dawn and dusk. Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023 The current models were adopted back at the dawn of the music-streaming age, when revenue was so low that there was little difference between, say, 12% and 15% of royalties. Jem Aswad, Variety, 13 Nov. 2023 As the dawn of generative AI unfolds, a distinct separation will emerge among professionals and businesses: those who leverage this transformative technology to enhance productivity and innovation and those who lag behind. Bernard Marr, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dawn.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

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

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of dawn was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near dawn

Cite this Entry

“Dawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dawn. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

dawn

1 of 2 verb
ˈdȯn How to pronounce dawn (audio)
ˈdän
1
: to begin to grow light as the sun rises
waited for the day to dawn
2
: to begin to appear or develop
a smile dawned on her face
3
: to begin to be understood
the solution dawned on him

dawn

2 of 2 noun
1
: the first appearance of light in the morning
2
: a first appearance : beginning
the dawn of a new age

More from Merriam-Webster on dawn

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