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Origin and history of dawning

dawning(n.)

"first appearance of light in the morning," late 13c., verbal noun from dawn (v.). It superseded Middle English dauing, dawing, dayinge, from Old English dagung.

also from late 13c.

Entries linking to dawning

dawn(v.)

c. 1200, dauen, "to become day, grow light in the morning," shortened or back-formed from dauinge, dauing "period between darkness and sunrise," (c. 1200), from Old English dagung, from dagian "to become day," from Proto-Germanic *dagaz "day" (source also of German tagen "to dawn"), from PIE root *agh- "a day." Probably influenced by Scandinavian cognates (Danish dagning, Old Norse dagan "a dawning"). Related: Dawned; dawning.

Figurative sense "begin to develop" is from 1717. Of ideas, etc., "begin to become apparent or evident to the mind," by 1852.

dawn(n.)

1590s, "first appearance of daylight in the morning," from dawn (v.). Middle English words for "first appearance of light in the morning" were day-gleam (late 14c.), dayspring (c. 1300), and dawning. Dawn (n.) in the figurative sense of "first opening or expansion of anything" is from 1630s. As a fem. proper name, little used in U.S. before 1920 but a top 25 name for girls born 1966-1975.

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    sunset
    "apparent descent of the sun below the horizon in evening," late 14c., from sun (n.) + set (v.). Perhaps a shortening of sun-setting, or perhaps taken from a Middle English subjunctive such as before the sun set. Old English had sunnansetlgong "sunset," while sunset meant "west."
    morning
    "first part of the day" (technically from midnight to noon), late 14c., a contraction of mid-13c. morwenynge, moregeninge, from morn, morewen (see morn) + suffix -ing, on pattern of evening. Originally the time just before sunrise. As an adjective from 1530s; as a greeting by 184
    change
    c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),
    wand
    c. 1200, from Old Norse vondr "rod, switch" (cognate with Gothic wandus "rod," Middle Swedish vander), from Proto-Germanic *wend- "to turn," see wind (v.1)). The notion is of a bending, flexible stick. Compare cognate Old Norse veggr, Old English wag "wall," Old Saxon, Dutch wand
    begin
    Old English beginnan "to attempt, undertake," a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan (class III strong verb; past tense ongann, past participle ongunnen); from be- + West Germanic *ginnan, which is of obscure etymology and found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open
    binge
    1854, "drinking bout," also (v.) "drink heavily, soak up alcohol;" dialectal use of binge "soak" (a wooden vessel). Said to have been originally as a dialect word. Binge is noted in Evans' "Leicestershire Words, Phrases and Proverbs" (London, 1848) as a dialect verb for "To soak
    click
    1580s, "cause to make a weak, sharp, sound" (transitive), of imitative origin (compare Dutch and East Frisian klikken "to click;" Old French clique "tick of a clock"). Intransitive sense "make a weak, sharp sound" is from 1610s. The figurative sense, in reference usually to perso
    start
    Middle English sterten, "leap, jump, cavort, caper," from Old English *steortian, *stiertan, Kentish variants of styrtan "to leap up" (but the Old English verb is attested only in Northumbrian past participle sturtende), from Proto-Germanic *stert- (source also of Old Frisian ste
    hour
    c. 1200, "divine office prescribed for each of the seven canonical hours; the daily service at the canonical hours;" c. 1300, "time of day appointed for prayer, one of the seven canonical hours," from Old French ore, hore "canonical hour; one-twelfth of a day" (sunrise to sunset)
    first
    Old English fyrst "foremost, going before all others; chief, principal," also (though rarely) as an adverb, "at first, originally," superlative of fore; from Proto-Germanic *furista- "foremost" (source also of Old Saxon fuirst "first," Old High German furist, Old Norse fyrstr, Da

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