Awakens

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To stop sleeping and regain consciousness ; to cause someone to become alert or aware of something
2. To move from sleep to wakefulness ; to stimulate a person or group to greater awareness or action
3. To emerge from sleep and become conscious of the environment ; to prompt a sudden realization or interest in someone

Etymology: "Awakens" is the third-person singular present form of "awaken," so its history is that of the verb itself. "Awaken" comes from Middle English "awakenen" or "awaknen," which descends from Old English "awæcnan" or "awæcnian." The Old English verb was built from the prefix "a-," which is the same element found in words like "aside" and "ashore," attached to "wæcnan" or "wæcnian," meaning to become awake or to rouse. The older stem is the key to the sense. Old English had "wæcnan" as a verb of becoming, so "awæcnan" carried the idea of coming out of sleep into wakefulness. The prefix and stem together produced a word whose meaning is the same as its modern use: to stop sleeping, or to cause someone to stop sleeping. Over the centuries the figurative sense of rousing the mind or feelings grew from that literal base.

Synonyms: wakes, rouses, stirs, arouses, revives

Antonyms: puts to sleep, sleeps, bans, quiets, dulls