dawn
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.the time in the early morning when light first appears in the sky, just before the sun rises.
n.the period of first light in the morning, preceding sunrise; a relational boundary between night and day.
Simple“The farmers were already out in the fields at dawn while most people were still sleeping.”
In context“The expedition team planned to depart at dawn, hoping to reach the mountain pass before the midday heat made the climb more difficult.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the very start of a new period of time or a new idea.
n.the earliest stage or beginning of a particular historical period, movement, or phenomenon.
Simple“The invention of the internet marked the dawn of a new era in communication.”
In context“Historians often debate whether this specific treaty truly represented the dawn of modern diplomacy or merely a continuation of older practices.”
Antonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to start to become light in the morning.
v.to begin to grow light as the sun rises. Intransitive use.
Simple“The day dawned clear and cold after the storm had passed.”
In context“As the day dawned over the valley, the mist began to lift, revealing the damage caused by the previous night's flooding.”
SynonymsAntonymsdarken - 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to suddenly understand something or realize a truth.
v.to begin to be perceived or understood; typically used with 'on' or 'upon'.
Simple“It slowly dawned on him that he had left his keys inside the locked house.”
In context“It only dawned on the investigators much later that the witness had been describing a completely different vehicle.”
UsageUsually used in the pattern 'it dawned on someone that...'
Synonymsoccur torealize
“Dawn had long broken in the Essex town of Clacton-on-Sea when the results for the byelection came in.”
“CT scans of the world’s rarest dodo skulls suggest the extinct bird may have had a stronger sense of smell, a highly sensitive beak, and a lifestyle that extended into dawn and dusk.”
From dawn.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.