aurora English · revision 39921

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1386, Chaucer, Legend of Good Women|origins=la aurōra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /əˈɹɔː.ɹə/, /ɔːˈɹɔː.ɹə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /əˈɹɔɹ.ə/, /ɔˈɹɔɹ.ə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|aurōra|t=dawn; the goddess of dawn]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) perhaps partly through [[m|fro|aurore]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026) The Latin noun goes back to an earlier [[la|*ausōsa]],^(Klein 1966)^(Skeat 1911) from [[ine-pro|*aus-|t=to shine]], especially of the dawn,^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) the root of [[east]];^(Hoad 1986)^(Skeat 1911)^(Barnhart 1988) its cognates include [[grc|ἠώς|tr=ēṓs|t=dawn]], [[m|lt|aušra|t=dawn]] and [[m|la|auster|t=south wind]].^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) Klein derives [[m|la|aurum|t=gold]] from the same root,^(Klein 1966) and Partridge mentions a derivation of ''aurora'' from that word.^(Partridge 1966) The name [[aurora borealis]], "northern dawn", was introduced by the French scientist Pierre Gassendi in 1621.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The dawn, the light of morning: about 1386, in Chaucer's ''Legend of Good Women'', in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED's first quotation is from Caxton's ''Golden Legend'' (1483).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The personified goddess of dawn, rising with rosy fingers, appears in English from 1610,^(OED 2026) and Johnson (1755) gave "the goddess that opens the gates of day; poetically, the morning", after a sense "a species of crowfoot".^(Johnson 1755) Poets used the word for the East from 1617.^(OED 2026) The luminous display of the polar sky, already called ''aurora borealis'' by Gassendi, is recorded in English from 1703, in a letter of the astronomer John Flamsteed;^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) the term was explained as "northern light" in Chambers's ''Cyclopaedia'' (1727–51).^(Barnhart 1988) The southern counterpart is the ''aurora australis'', "southern dawn".^(Klein 1966)^(Partridge 1966) The colour of the sky at sunrise, a rich orange, has been called ''aurora'' since the 17th century,^(SOED 2002) 1791 in the OED,^(OED 2026) and the figurative use for a beginning dates from 1806.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – the dawn.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1610 – the Roman goddess of the dawn.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1617 – (poetic) the East.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1621 – ''aurora borealis'', named by Gassendi.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)

+ * 1703 – the luminous phenomenon of the polar sky.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1791 – a rich orange colour.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1806 – figuratively, a beginning.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Bands or curtains of coloured light that move across the night sky in the [[polar]] regions, caused by charged particles from the [[sun]] striking the upper [[atmosphere]]; the [[aurora borealis]] or the [[aurora australis]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (poetic) The [[dawn]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (capitalized) The Roman [[goddess]] of the dawn.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (literary) The beginning or early period of something.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[auroral]]

+ * [[aurorean]]

+ * [[aurora australis]]

+ * [[aurora borealis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[east]]

+ * [[Easter]]

+ * [[aureate]]

+ * [[boreal]]

+ * [[austral]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}