beacon

plural beacons

1. A signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy, or to give any notice, commonly of warning.

   No flaming Beacons caſt their Blaze afar, / The dreadful Signal of invaſive VVar.

   1713, [John] Gay, Rural Sports. A Poem. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 15

2. nauticalA signal, buoy, post, or other conspicuous mark erected on an eminence near the shore, or moored in shoal water, as a guide to mariners, particularly to warn vessels of danger.

   Henceforth, wherever thou may’st roam, / ⁠My blessing, like a line of light, / ⁠Is on the waters day and night, / And like a beacon guards thee home.

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 28

3. A high hill or other easily distinguishable object near the shore which can serve as guidance for seafarers.
4. figurativelyThat which gives notice of danger, hope, etc., or keeps people on the correct path; a source of inspiration.

   a beacon of hope

   2 more examples

   Modest doubt is called / The beacon of the wise.

   c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

   Latin America’s largest economy, with a population of more than 200 million people, is a beacon for China’s delivery and ride-hailing companies looking to export their ruthlessly low-cost business models.

   2025 June 20, Meaghan Tobin, “Chinese Companies Set Their Sights on Brazil”, in The New York Times

5. An electronic device that broadcasts a signal to nearby portable devices, enabling smartphones etc. to perform actions when in physical proximity to the beacon.
6. InternetabbreviationellipsisEllipsis of web beacon.

present singular third person beacons · participle present beaconing · participle past beaconed · past beaconed

1. intransitiveTo act as a beacon.
2. transitiveTo give light to, as a beacon; to light up; to illumine.

   That beacons the darkness of heaven.

   1801, Thomas Campbell, Lochiel's Warning

3. transitiveTo furnish with a beacon or beacons.

1. A minor city in Mahaska County, Iowa, United States.
2. A city in Dutchess County, New York, United States.
3. A hamlet in Luppitt parish, East Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref ST1705).
4. A hamlet in Yarcombe parish, East Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref ST2308).
5. A town in the Shire of Mount Marshall, Western Australia.
6. A surname.