DAWN ON

[dawn] Origin

dawn

[dawn]
noun
1.
the first appearance of daylight in the morning: Dawn broke over the valley.
2.
the beginning or rise of anything; advent: the dawn of civilization.
verb (used without object)
3.
to begin to grow light in the morning: The day dawned with a cloudless sky.
4.
to begin to open or develop.
5.
to begin to be perceived (usually followed by on): The idea dawned on him.

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Dawn ON is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

Origin:
before 1150; Middle English dawen (v.), Old English dagian, derivative of dæg day; akin to Old Norse daga, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German dagen, Old High German tagēn

dawn·like, adjective
un·dawned, adjective


1. daybreak, sunrise. 5. appear, occur, break.


1. sunset.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

dawn
c.1500, shortened from dawning, dawing (c.1300), from O.E. dagung, from dagian "to become day," from root of dæg "day" (see day). Probably influenced by a Scandinavian word (cf. Dan. dagning, O.N. dagan). The noun is first recorded c.1600.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

dawn on

Also, dawn upon. Become evident or understood, as in It finally dawned on him that he was expected to call them, or Around noon it dawned upon me that I had never eaten breakfast. This expression transfers the beginning of daylight to the beginning of a thought process. Harriet Beecher Stowe had it in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852): "The idea that they had either feelings or rights had never dawned upon her." [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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