dawn

present singular third person dawns · participle present dawning · participle past dawned · past dawned

1. intransitiveTo begin to brighten with daylight.

   A new day dawns.

   1 more example

   In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene[…]to see the sepulchre.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew xxviii:1

2. figurativelyintransitiveTo start to appear or become obvious.

   I don’t want to be there when the truth dawns on him.

   2 more examples

   The realization dawned on him that few would pass that final exam.

   Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   Synonyms: glimpse

3. figurativelyintransitiveTo begin to give promise; to begin to appear or to expand.

   in dawning youth

   1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

   2 more examples

   when life awakes, and dawns at every line

   1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC

   Leave the time of war behind and let a time of peace dawn!

   2023 February 3, Pope Francis, “Address of His Holiness”, in Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan

plural dawns

1. uncountableThe morning twilight period immediately before sunrise.
2. countableThe rising of the sun.

   Every act of a Roman, from birth to death, from dawn to night, was controlled and supervised by some presiding deity.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 209

   Synonyms: break of dawn, break of day, daybreak, day-dawn, dayspring, sunrise

3. uncountableThe time when the sun rises.

   She rose before dawn to meet the train.

   1 more example

   The platoon braced itself for the dawn offensive.

   Synonyms: break of dawn, break of day, crack of dawn, daybreak, day-dawn, dayspring, sunrise

4. uncountableThe earliest phase of something.

   The dawn of civilization didn't imply twilight of barbarity.

   2 more examples

   In the Edinburgh area, Leith and neighbouring Granton have only one terminal station where formerly there were four, and the long-established ferry from Granton to Burntisland, the history of which stretches back to the dawn of Scottish railways, is no more.

   1958 July 28, J. P. Wilson, “Scottish Soliloquy”, in Railway Magazine, page 495

   The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).

   2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847

   Synonyms: beginning, onset, start

plural Dawns

1. A female given name from English, sometimes given to a girl born at dawn.

   Dawn, go away, I’m no good for you.

   1964 Bob Gaudio - Sandy Linzer, Dawn (a song)

   1 more example

   "Thomas, if it's a boy," she said, "after my uncle. But if it's a girl I'd like something fancy for a first name." "What about Dawn?" she said. "I like the sound of Dawn. Then Mary for a second name. Dawn Mary Parker, it sounds sweet."

   1958, MurielSpark, The Go-away Bird: With Other Stories, Macmillan 1958, page 20 ("The Black Madonna")