Dawn Vs Dusk, What Does Each One Mean? How To Use Them

In our everyday lives, we use a significant amount of words. Some of these words have similar meanings others relate to each other in how different they are. Such is the case for “dusk” and “dawn”. In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about both terms.

“Dawn” and “dusk” are opposites of each other. “Dawn” is the daybreak from night to day, and “dusk” is the break from the day to night. The word dawn can be substituted for sunrise, but it can also symbolize the beginning and the end. “Dusk” can be used as a metaphorical end to the world.

Dawn

Origin Of The Phrase

According to several sources, the word “dawn” dates back to before 1150. It comes from the Middle English dawen (v.) and Old English again. This last is considered a derivative of dægday. Comparable to Old Norse daga, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German Dagen, Old High, and German tagēn.

Definitions

There are at least two formal definitions or two meanings for the word “dawn.” The first one would be “sunrise,” and the second one is “beginning.” We will share some synonyms of each one and some sentences with you in order to give you a better understanding.

Sunrise

For this word, we accumulated these synonyms: Daybreak, the break of day, first thing in the morning, first light, early morning, daylight, morning, cockcrow (archaic or literary), sunup.

Examples

• Goose and moose departed at daybreak; goose and moose departed at dawn.
• Goose gets up at the break of the day; goose gets up at dawn.
• Moose stays awake until first thing in the morning; moose stays awake until dawn.
• The flight will land at first light; The flight will land at first dawn.
• We have one of the best pictures at daylight; We have one of the best pictures at dawn.
• The third guard is from 3:00 am until morning; The third guard is from 3:00 am until dawn.
• I always sleep until the cockcrow; I always sleep until dawn.
• To get there on time, I need to get out at sunup; To get there on time, I need to get out at dawn.

Beginning

We compiled the following synonyms for dawn: start, birth, emergence, dawning, origin, commencement, genesis, advent, inception, begins, appearance; development; an opening time period; expansion; first appearance; rise; the earliest period.

Examples In Sentences

In the following examples, you will see how the word changes a sentence.

• That year is where the Batman trilogy begins; That year is the dawn of the Batman trilogy.
• The appearance of the Ottoman empire was in 1299; The dawn of the Ottoman empire was in 1299.
• In 1760 in the full industrial revolution was the development of skyscrapers; In 1760, the full industrial revolution was the dawn of skyscrapers.
• Elon Musk gave a new opening time period to Tesla Motors; Elon Musk gave a new dawn to Tesla Motors.
• The existence of Facebook and Twitter brought an expansion to a new era. The existence of Facebook and Twitter brought a new dawn to a new era.
• Jackie Chan made his first appearance in movies in 1962; Jackie Chan made his dawn in 1962.
• The Roman empire has risen up in 27 b.c.; The Roman empire has dawned in 27 b.c.
• This architecture was developed in the earliest period of the Baroque period. This architecture was developed at the dawn of the baroque period.

Dusk

Origin of phrase

This word originates from the Old English phrase “dox.” It is related to the Old Saxon dosan brown. The Old High German tusin yellow, which is from a Norwegian dusmen misty, originated from the mother language Latin word fuscus, which means: dark brown.

Definitions

There are at least seven formal synonyms for the word “dusk.” In order to give you a better understanding of how to use these synonyms, we’ll provide you with examples: crepuscule, evenfall, evening, eventide, nightfall, sundown, sunset.

Examples In Sentences

• The Indians attacked the village before the crepuscule; The Indians attacked the village before dusk.
• The army needs to march after the Evenfall; The army needs to march after dusk.
• Thousands of lights are already shimmering in the gloaming; Thousands of lights are already shimmering in the dusk.
• They got married before sunset; They got married before dusk.
• We got all locked down after sundown; We got all locked down after dusk.
• The party should start after nightfall; The party should start after dusk.
• It was a great day before the evening; It was a great day before dusk.
• When the white flower opens at the eventide, it is when the trap is ready. When the white flower opens at dusk, it is when the trap is ready.

How People Use The Phrase

For the purpose of providing examples and providing deeper insight, I intend to present two ways for this word to be used; for literal concepts, meaning the late time of the day before the nights, and metaphorical.

Literal (Time Of The Day)

• By this time of the day, it was getting dusk.
• Many people traveled to the north pole in July to observe the dusk.
• The saddest part of the day is the dusk, where the light vanishes.
• Startled by the last soft light disappearing at dusk.
• She waited long at the ship while others remained on the deck until dusk.
• The diurnal movement of the stars has caused it to vanish each day at dusk.
• It appears to me that I would embrace the entire cosmos with them, from dawn to dusk.
• Your beauty appears to be in the dusk.
• The bird flapped its wings, which glittered in the dusk at that time.
• He roamed through the Bois de Boulogne all afternoon, returning to the boulevards just before dusk.
• As dusk approached, the sun started creeping around the west.

Metaphorical (end)

All these examples have a metaphorical usage too.

• The dusk of the existing world time order has been announced during the past 50 years.
• The dusk of the planet had begun when we started caring less and less for the environment.
• Too many historians wrote about the dusk of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.
• The moral values have come to dusk compared to the parallelism and relativism of everything nowadays.
• The population of birds that migrate this summer has dusk compared to previous years.
• Spain’s situation in regards to population growth is critical due to the birth rate continuing to dusk.
• Her health began to dusk, and doctors don’t feel too optimistic about him.
• When civilization dusks, a new civilization arises.
• As we all know today, television has come to dusk due to new apps and easy ways to entertain.
• Many reasons contributed to the Aztec Civilization’s dusk, including sacrifices, sickness, and the Spanish conquest.

Conclusion

After defining the words “dawn” and “dusk,” we looked at the origin of each one and learned their meaning. During this journey, we could see how both are antonyms for each other and the fact that both have double meanings and interests. One (“dawn”) means sunrise and at the same time means beginning, while the other (“dusk”) means sunset and also means end.

Whenever you have to write or talk about the beginning or the end of a topic, you can use dawn or dusk as an alternative. With all this information, you can be an expert, and you will have the freedom and security to always use these terms.