/ Sign up
English (UK)

Meaning of dawn in English

dawn
noun [ C or U ]
uk
/dɔːn/ us
/dɑːn/
Add to word list Add to word list
B2
the period in the day when light from the sun begins to appear in the sky:
at dawn We woke at dawn.
dawn is breaking We left as dawn was breaking (= starting).
break of dawn We left at the break of dawn.
 
Photos by R A Kearton/Moment/GettyImages
the dawn of something C1 literary
the start of a period of time or the beginning of something new:
The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the dawn of a new era in European history.
See more
from dawn to dusk
from early morning until night:
We worked from dawn to dusk, seven days a week.
See more
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Days & times of day
See more results »
dawn
verb [ I ]
uk
/dɔːn/ us
/dɑːn/

dawn verb [I] (BEGIN)

If a day or period of time dawns, it begins:
He left the house just as the day was dawning.
In the late 1970s, the personal computer era was dawning.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Starting and beginning
See more results »

dawn verb [I] (BECOME KNOWN)

mainly UK
to become known or obvious:
Gradually the truth about him dawned.
[ + that ] It eventually dawned that he wouldn't be coming back.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Thinking and contemplating
See more results »

dawning

noun [ S ] uk
/ˈdɔː.nɪŋ/ us
/ˈdɑː.nɪŋ/
the dawning of the digital age

Phrasal verb

dawn on someone
(Definition of dawn from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

dawn | American Dictionary

dawn
noun
us
/dɔn, dɑn/
Add to word list Add to word list
the period in the day when light from the sun begins to appear in the sky:
[ U ] fig. Computers mark the dawn of a new age.
dawn
verb [ I ]
us/dɔn, dɑn/
(of a day or period of time) to begin:
Winston left his house as the day was dawning.

Phrasal verb

dawn on someone
(Definition of dawn from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of dawn

dawn
By then, another era of country music was dawning.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The age of the yuppie had dawned.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
As the new millennium dawns, many forces press toward a more complete integration of our understanding of the development of psychopathology.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A new chapter dawned in the 1960s.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
All of a sudden, an aspect dawns.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
I could contemplate living in a world without party political broadcasts, but that day has not dawned.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
The reality has not been accepted thereafter, however, even though it has been dawning over the years.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
We have just had one, and another is dawning.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
The full force of that interruption has not dawned upon me.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Admittedly, there have been false dawns in this respect in the past.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Democracy, as well as the interests of our constituents, will be advanced when that long-awaited day finally dawns.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
At long last the light has dawned; but perhaps there will be later legislation in which the light will be extinguished again.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Perhaps we shall not see the dawning of that great day.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
He has promised us more new dawns than most of us have had hot dinners, but the recovery seems strangely delayed.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
The year 1971 has now dawned and negotiations about the terms are under way.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
See all examples of dawn
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of dawn?
 
What is the pronunciation of dawning?
 

Translations of dawn

in Chinese (Traditional)
拂曉，破曉，黎明, 開始, 破曉…
See more
in Chinese (Simplified)
拂晓，破晓，黎明, 开始, 破晓…
See more
in Spanish
amanecer, comenzar, revelarse…
See more
in Portuguese
amanhecer, amanhecer [masculine]…
See more
in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
पहाट - आकाशात सूर्याची प्रभा येऊ लागल्यावर दिवसाचा…
See more
夜明け, 夜明（よあ）け…
See more
şafak vakti, seher vakti, bir günün ya da zaman diliminin başlaması…
See more
aube [feminine], aurore [feminine], se lever…
See more
alba…
See more
aanbreken, dageraad…
See more
சூரியனில் இருந்து ஒளி வானில் தோன்றத் தொடங்கும் பகலில் உள்ள காலம்…
See more
भोर, सवेरा…
See more
પરોઢ, વહેલી સવારે…
See more
gry, bryde frem, daggry…
See more
dagas, gry, bryta fram…
See more
permulaan, subuh…
See more
dämmern, die Dämmerung, der Anbruch…
See more
daggry [neuter], demre, gry…
See more
روشنی کی پہلی کرن, تڑکا, پو پھٹنے کا وقت…
See more
світати, розвиднятися, світанок…
See more
рассвет, наступать, начинаться…
See more
తెల్లవారుజాము…
See more
فَجْر…
See more
ভোর, দিনের সেই সময় যখন সূর্য ওঠে…
See more
rozbřesknout se, svítat, úsvit…
See more
mulai muncul, fajar, awal…
See more
เริ่มขึ้น, รุ่งอรุณ, การเริ่มขึ้น…
See more
bình minh, rạng đông, buổi sơ khai…
See more
świt, świtać, zaświtać…
See more
새벽…
See more
alba, spuntare, principio…
See more
Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool
 

Browse

dawdle
dawdled
dawdling
dawg
dawn
dawn chorus
dawn on someone phrasal verb
dawn raid
dawn/day breaks phrase

Word of the Day

yolk

UK
/jəʊk/
US
/joʊk/

the yellow, middle part of an egg

About this

Blog

I feel it in my bones (Idioms with ‘bone’)

New Words

celeb bait

More new words
has been added to list
To top
Contents
EnglishAmericanExamplesTranslations
English (UK)   Change
English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Danish English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
Contents
My word lists

To add dawn to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add dawn to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: