dawn English · revision 6225

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1499|origins=ang dagian}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɔːn/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is a back-formation from [[dawning]], [[inh|enm|dawning|alt=dauing, dawninge]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) which replaced [[inh|ang|dagung]], from [[m|ang|dagian|t=to become day]], from the root of [[m|ang|dæg|t=day]] (see [[day]]);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) the -n- probably came from a Scandinavian source, compare [[da|dagning]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a verb, to begin to grow light: 1499 in Barnhart and the OED, late 15th century in NODE;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998) Etymonline traces the shorter dauen to about 1200.^(Etymonline) The noun dawning is from about 1250.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun dawn, the first light of the morning, is from 1599, the 1590s in Etymonline;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) before it, Middle English used day-gleam, dayspring and dawning.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense, a beginning or first appearance, is from 1633.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb in the figurative sense, to begin to develop, is from 1717,^(OED 1989) and to begin to be understood, as in ''it dawned on me'', follows.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) As a girl's name Dawn was little used in the US before 1920 but was among the top 25 names for girls born 1966–1975.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – dawning.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1499 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – the noun.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1633 – a beginning.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1717 – to begin to develop.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The time each morning when daylight first appears; [[daybreak]] or [[sunrise]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The beginning of something: ''the dawn of civilization''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To begin to grow light in the morning.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To begin to appear or develop.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To begin to be understood, usually with ''on'': ''it dawned on him''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dawnlike]]

+ * [[predawn]]

+ * [[crack of dawn]]

+ * [[dawn patrol]]

+ * [[false dawn]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dawning]]

+ * [[day]]

+ * [[daybreak]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}