Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: CHRONOLOGY

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

dawn

1 noun
     
dawn1 [uncountable and countable]
1TMC the time at the beginning of the day when light first appears [= 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.
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