Толковый словарь английского языка

[Date: 1200-1300; Origin: daw 'to dawn' (10-19 centuries), from Old English dagian; related to day]

1. the time at the beginning of the day when light first appears SYN daybreak ⇨ dusk

at dawn

The boats set off at dawn.

When dawn broke (=the first light of the day appeared), we were still 50 miles from Calcutta.

I was up at the crack of dawn (=very early in the morning) to get the plane.

We worked from dawn to dusk (=through the whole day while it is light).

the cold light of dawn

2. the dawn of civilization/time etc the time when something began or first appeared:

People have been falling in love since the dawn of time.

3. a false dawn something that seems positive or hopeful but really is not:

There was talk of share prices recovering, but that was just a false dawn.

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ beginning the first part of something such as a story, event, or period of time: The beginning of the movie is very violent. | Let’s go back to the beginning.

▪ start the beginning of something, or the way something begins: Tomorrow marks the start of the presidential election campaign. | It was not a good start to the day. | The runners lined up for the start of the race.

▪ commencement formal the beginning of something – used especially in official contexts: the commencement of the academic year | the commencement of the contract

▪ origin the point from which something starts to exist: He wrote a book about the origins of the universe. | The tradition has its origins in medieval times.

▪ the onset of something the time when something bad begins, such as illness, old age, or cold weather: the onset of winter | An active lifestyle can delay the onset of many diseases common to aging.

▪ dawn literary the beginning of an important period of time in history: People have worshipped gods since the dawn of civilization.

▪ birth the beginning of something important that will change many people’s lives: the birth of democracy in South Africa | the birth of the environmental movement

1. if day or morning dawns, it begins:

The morning dawned fresh and clear after the storm.

2. if a period of time or situation dawns, it begins:

The age of Darwin had dawned.

3. if a feeling or idea dawns, you have it for the first time:

It began to dawn that something was wrong.

dawn on somebody phrasal verb

if a fact dawns on you, you realize it for the first time:

The ghastly truth dawned on me.

It dawned on me that Jo had been right all along.