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Synonyms

dawn

1 American  
[dawn] / dɔn /

noun

  1. the first appearance of daylight in the morning.

    Dawn broke over the valley.
    Synonyms:
    sunrise, daybreak
    Antonyms:
    sunset

  2. the beginning or rise of anything; advent.

    the dawn of civilization.

verb (used without object)

  1. to begin to grow light in the morning.

    The day dawned with a cloudless sky.

  2. to begin to open or develop.

  3. to begin to be perceived (usually followed byon ).

    The idea dawned on him.
    Synonyms:
    break, occur, appear
Dawn 2 American  
[dawn] / dɔn /

noun

  1. a female given name.

dawn British  
/ dɔːn /

noun

  1. daybreak; sunrise

  2. the sky when light first appears in the morning

  3. the beginning of something

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to begin to grow light after the night

  2. to begin to develop, appear, or expand

  3. to begin to become apparent (to)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
dawn Idioms  

    More idioms and phrases containing dawn

Other Word Forms

  • dawnlike adjective
  • undawned adjective

Etymology

Origin of dawn

First recorded before 1150; Middle English dawen (verb), Old English dagian, derivative of dæg day; akin to Old Norse daga, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German dagen, Old High German tagēn

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Instead, I woke before dawn, as I had done every day for months, and walked the short distance to the hospital.

From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan gathered before dawn Thursday in Riyadh for talks aimed at finding a diplomatic off-ramp to the war in Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

That involves “rising before dawn to begin the day with liturgical prayer and returning to church periodically during the day for further prayer together.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026

Just over 100 people forced to leave their homes gathered from dawn on Monday at a WFP distribution site in Paktia province, on Afghanistan's eastern border, to receive fortified biscuits, an AFP photographer said.

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

Mr. Garner liked to wake everyone up at the crack of dawn with him.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.