dawn

1 the first appearance of light in the morning or the time of its appearance we stayed up talking until dawn Synonyms aurora, cockcrow, dawning, day, daybreak, daylight, light, morn, morning, sun, sunrise, sunup Related Words daytime; forenoon Near Antonyms dark, darkness, midnight, night, nighttime; afternoon, midday; dusk, evening, eventide, gloaming, twilight Antonyms nightfall, sundown, sunset

2 the point at which something begins the dawn of civilization Synonyms alpha, baseline, birth, commencement, beginning, day one, genesis, get-go (also git-go), inception, incipience, incipiency, kickoff, launch, morning, nascence, nascency, onset, outset, start, thresholdRelated Words drawing board, first base, ground zero, square one; creation, founding, inauguration, initiation, institution, origination; cradle, fountain, fountainhead, germ, origin, root, seedbed, source, spring, well, wellspring; dawning, opening; advent, appearance, arrival, debut (also début), emergence; childhood, infancy, youthNear Antonyms cessation, closing, closure, completion, finale, finish, period, stop, termination, windupAntonyms close, conclusion, end, ending, omega